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Portrait of Louise Yates Robison. .Frontispiece
Louise Yates Robison 3
New Year Visions Alice Morrill 7
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman (with portrait) 8
I Wonder J. B. Green 13
Resignation Henry Van Dyke 13
Counselor Julia Alleman Child (with por-
trait) 14
Awakening Mary Hale Woolsey 17
Julia A. Parnsworth Lund (with portrait).. 18
Editorial — Prest. Louise Yates Robison 22
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman 23
Counselor Julia Alleman Child 24
General Secy, and Treas. Julia A. F.
Lund 25
The Eliza Roxey Snow Poem Contest.. 26
A Song for New Years
Shirley Rei Gudmundsen 27
My Neighbor (first prize poem)
Alice M. Walker 29
Etched (second prize poem) Josephine Spencer 30
The Miracle Rosanna C. Irvine 31
Pioneers Lais V. Hales 40
Guide Lessons for March 41
Dr. Karl G. Maeser 57
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
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JANUARY, 1929
NO. 1
PRESIDENT LOUISE YATES ROBISON
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI JANUARY, 1929 No. 1
Louise Yates Robison
President of National Woman's Relief Society of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
By Jennie Brimhall Knight
Across the street from our home stands a group of beau-
tiful, large maple trees. For a long time they have been a con-
stant joy to all who come their way. The green leaves of spring
speak hope, testifying of the coming of grateful shade to
relieve the hot summer sun. Then, with their message of good
cheer, beautiful beyond expression of brush or pen, come the
glorious tints of autumn. These trees were planted by Louise
Yates Robison when Provo was her home city. They are
typical of her, for throughout her life she has sought to have
beauty take the place of barrenness, to see that comfort and
succor come to the rescue of those exposed to the fiery darts
of want and poverty, and with words of cheer to make more
colorful and happy the lives of the downhearted and depressed.
Among women who are blessed in being well born is
our new president. Her birth occurred in Millard County on
May 27, 1866. Her father was Thomas Yates; her mother,
Elizabeth Francis Yates. She says, "I am thankful that I was
born to those splendid parents, who were refined, spiritual and
loving." Throughout life her father and mother were devoted
lovers. They left their native land for the faith they had in
the gospel, and bequeathed to their children a reverence for
God, for his works, for his promises. Their daughter, follow-
ing their worthy example, has a perfect trust in the Lord and
deep respect for his authority here on earth.
In Pioneer days her father was bishop of Scipio ; her
mother a worker in the ward Relief Society and later president
of the Millard Stake Relief Society — facts that bear witness
to their leadership. When very young Louise learned to share
with others her food and shelter as well as the companionship
4 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of her father and mother. In this home the foundation was laid
for our new president's work in the Relief Society.
Sister Robison got her schooling in her home town and
was for a season a student at the Brigham Young University.
At that time Karl G. Maeser was principal — a fact that she
appreciates. With hundreds of other students she received
abundant spiritual enrichment through contact with his life.
When a very young girl she was married to Joseph Lyman
Robison, and thus her career as a student was cut short. Mil-
lard County has produced more than its share of gifted people,
a fact indicating that a number of unusual families located
in that section. Among these was the Robison family, and
Joseph Lyman is a scion of that stock. It has been my good
fortune to know the members of these families rather well and
whenever they speak of young men of promise of Millard
County, of the earlier period, they usually name Joseph Lyman
Robison as one of them.
Many years of Mrs. Robison's life have been devoted to
home making. Her two sons, like her brother Thomas, an en-
gineer, are of the professional class. Her eldest son, Harold,
who received his M. D. at the Rush Medical College in Chicago
and his Master's Degree in Philadelphia, is a prominent
physician of Los Angeles, California. Her son Rulgn is en-
dowed with exceptional musical ability ; he has a rich tenor
voice and is a member of the faculty of the New England Con-
servatory of Music in Boston. She has four daughters —
Florence, Winifred, Gladys and Dorothy, all married. Their
mother's tribute is "my daughters are as successful home-
makers and mothers as my sons are successful professional
men." People who have come in contact with this family
have been impressed by their mutual devotion and by the
endearing terms with which they address each other. Having
seen some of the daughters, I know that their mother is justi-
fied in her estimate of their ability.
In one capacity or another Louise Yates Robison has
served the Church a great many years of her life. Before her
marriage she was an officer in the Y. L. M. I. A. ; for several
years thereafter she was at home with her babies. She says
"when they were old enough for me to leave them, I again
began Mutual work." For many years she served as president
of the First Ward Mutual in Salt Lake City, and later she
was president in the Emerson Ward. Then came the period
of her service on the Granite Stake Relief Society Board,
followed by a call to the presidency of that Board. She was
serving in the capacity of first counselor to President Leonora
T. Harrington when she was placed on the General Board of
the Relief Society and the Executive Committee in the position
LOUISE YATES ROB IS ON 5
of second counselor to President Clarissa S. Williams. Sister
Robison has also served on the Granite Stake Board of Gen-
ealogy, doing active work with Richard Summerhays.
During the war her very efficient service was generally
appreciated, particularly by the Red Cross, for whom she did
conspicuous work. Her special work at that time was in
surgical dressings. She took training and later was sent out by
the Red Cross as an instructor. She presided in the gauze
room at the Gardo House. True to her nature, she cannot
think of these wartime experiences without connecting it with
the friendships that resulted from the work. Many a thought
she devotes to the "fine women who gave their service to the
Red Cross during that period of storm and stress."
Temple work is dear to her heart. She has said that there
are no moments of her life when the spiritual seems to
dominate so completely and push from her all that is earthly
as when she is in the Temple doing the work of that Sacred
House. She particularly appreciates her good fortune in being
able to attend the dedicatory services of the Mesa Temple
in Arizona. During that memorable week President Grant
gave her an invitation to be present at every session — a cour-
tesy which she deeply appreciates.
In positions of leadership Sister Robison is modest and
unassuming. On April 2, 1921, when her name was announced
as counselor to President Clarissa S. Williams, she turned to
Leonora T. Harrington, her stake president, and said, "I didn't
know there was another woman by that name in the Church."
Much to her astonishment, Mrs. Harrington answered, "Why,
that's you."
From the moment of her entrance on the General Board
she has been energetically interested in Relief Society prob-
lems. During convention and conference periods she has
visited more stakes than her real quota. No personal interest
has ever stood in the way of her answering the call of the or-
ganization.
It is superfluous to say that she is industrious; her record
of achievement bears eloquent testimony to this fact. She
has spent many hours in the office when all others were gone.
Besides her regular work as counselor, she has acted as chair-
man of a number of important committees. At her suggestion
and under her supervision, a Church-wide campaign for home
beautification was launched, resulting in unforeseen and ex-
traordinary interest throughout the stakes of the Church.
At present she is a member of the Travelers' Aid Society,
having attended two national conventions of this organization.
This year her name is published as one of the directors of the
Utah Tuberculosis Association. Her interest in social welfare
6 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
problems has taken her to two conferences for social workers,
one held at Denver, Colorado, and the other at Toronto, Can-
ada. She is an active member of the State Conference of Social
Work and of other organizations interested in community
welfare.
Her kindly solicitude for all and her art of greeting each
with endearing terms, coupled with her sympathy and pa-
tience, have proved invaluable assets in her work in the burial
clothes department. This branch of the work of the Relief
Society has been a notable success under her management.
The bereaved and sorrowing, whenever they have entered her
office, have found a haven of peace during those anxious
hours when they are performing the last tender service for
loved ones.
On October 7, 1928, President Grant presented her name
at the Semi-annual Conference for General President of the
National Woman's Relief Society of the Church — a position that
she will doubtless fill with the same enthusiasm, energy, and faith
that she has put into all other positions to which she has been called.
Sister Robison is interested in the progress of women
the world over. Consequently, she has a vision of the great
work to be done and the courage to do her part. She is full
of faith and has an understanding heart. She comes to this
notable position well qualified to fill it with dignity and honor.
Our thoughts of her lead us to substitute the feminine for the
masculine and repeat the words of the third paragraph of the
first psalm in expressing our faith in our new President, Louise
Yates Robison. "And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water ; that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ;
and his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper."
New Year Visions
By Alice Morrill
The New Year curtain draws aside
And opens vistas, bright with cheer.
My step is free, my heart is glad
To enter on the fresh New Year.
I see, adown her wondrous aisles,
Sweet pleasures I have known before,
And joyous duties, and the glint
Of home fires through the open door.
Upon her sun-lit paths I see
The feet of children, and I hear
Their voices like the sound of bells
On zephyr breezes, ringing clear.
Now in the way that spreads beyond
I see stern duty — yet how kind !
Her sway, throughout the passing years,
Brings calm of soul and peace of mind.
I see, there, Labor of the Hands
Whose fruits shall bring forth manifold
Of all the gifts our Mother Earth
Hath safely locked within her hold.
I see Adherence to the Word
Of God, eternally the same
As Heaven]s sun and stars, and Truth
Sit ever in their place — unchanged.
I see the books of nature spread
Where all may feast most bounteously
And view her paintings, everywhere,
Hung for the Eye of Soul to see.
The New Year curtain draws aside,
Disclosing life's proud heritage
Of joy and duty, work and hope,
And wealth of Nature's equipage.
COUNSELOR AMY BROWN LYMAN
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman
By Mary Connelly Kimball
Amy Brown Lyman, honored and loved, in the full fruition of
her splendid powers, comes to the Presidency of the Relief Society
fully trained, informed, equipped to become at once effective in her
new office as counselor to President Louise Y. Robison. She loves
the Relief Society work and those engaged in it. She is frank and
outspoken and her president will know just where she stands, and
will find in her a valuable counselor, a considerate helper, a true
supporter.
The virility of stock continues generation after generation.
Mrs. Lyman evidences that sturdy, dependable, calm, judicious
heritage that is hers from pioneer parents. Her grandfather was
a graduate of the University of Berlin; her father, John Brown,
was educated for the Baptist ministry. He was one of the original
pioneers, and, with Orson Pratt, he has the distinction of being the
first of the Pioneer Band to see the Salt Lake Valley. His scholar-
ship made him outstanding. For many years he was mayor of
Pleasant Grove and bishop of the ward. Her mother was a lover
of books, sincere, charitable, and deeply religious. The home was
one of love, peace, and good will. The children were taught to do
right in such a way that it seemed to them the natural thing to do.
On February 7, 1872, Amy came to gladden her parents' home
at Pleasant Grove. There were ten children in the home ; hence she
knew the joy of growing up in a big family, with the discipline in
unselfishness that comes from yielding to the wishes and welfare
of others.
A student from childhood, she went from the schools of Pleas-
ant Grove to the Brigham Young University, graduating in the
class of 1890. For four years thereafter she taught in the training
school of her Alma Mater. Following this she taught in the public
schools of Salt Lake City for two years.
On September 9, 1896, she was married to Dr. Richard R.
Lyman, now of the Council of the Twelve. The union has been
a most happy one. Two children have brought joy to their home,
Wendell and Margaret. Both have graduated from the Univer-
sity of Utah with degrees. Wendell has been very successful in
business, and Margaret has spent years in studying the cello at
home, in New York and in Paris. She is now the wife of Alexan-
der Schreiner, one of America's leading organists and a brilliant
pianist.
Amy began her church work at the age of eleven as secretary
10 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of a ward Primary. She has acted in all the offices of a ward
Y. L. M. I. A. and as teacher in Sunday School. It is in the Relief
Society, however, that her most outstanding public work has been
done. On October 5, 1909, she was called to the General Board.
On May 5, 1911, she became assistant secretary and in August,
1913, she became General Secretary. She has served as assistant
manager of the Magazine since its establishment. In addition to
her valuable and interesting "Notes From the Field" she has
prepared guide lessons for the use of the society.
Very few have the secretarial ability that Mrs. Lyman has.
She is careful, accurate, painstaking. She has the knack of writing
the most important proceedings and the best things said at a meet-
ing. Mrs. Lyman leaves the minute files complete from the year
of the organization of the Relief Society in 1842 up to the present
time. She has assembled historical data covering the period be-
tween the Nauvoo meetings and the organization of the General
Board in 1892. The minutes are arranged with topical marginal
headings and are carefully indexed and cross indexed so that
information is available at a moment's notice. She also leaves a
complete file of bound volumes of stake reports from the year
1913 to the present, which is a useful and handy reference of
historical, statistical and financial data of the stakes and wards of
the Church.
Mrs. Lyman also arranged a comprehensive book for use in
the wards known as the "Ward Record Book." This book is ar-
ranged to record the activities of the ward, which in the Relief
Society are varied including roll, minutes, historical notes, sta-
tistical data, financial transactions, and yearly summarized reports.
It also contains printed instructions to officers. As soon as this
book was adopted it automatically systematized and standardized
all the mechanical workings of the ward organizations and it stands
as a permanent file for ready reference in the wards. A similar
book for stake records was also prepared for the stakes by Mrs.
Lyman.
Welfare work has been of especial interest to her and under
the direction of President Joseph F. Smith and the General Board
she had the privilege of introducing so called "case work" into the
Relief Society. For years she has studied methods and systems
of family relief, taking special courses in Sociology and Psychology,
in addition to the Red Cross Home Service Course and a course
in field work under the direction of the Denver City and County
Charity office. Whenever in her travels an opportunity has pre-
sented itself she has looked into relief work. In social service
work she is an outstanding authority in the state. She knows and
associates intimately wi'th the great leaders of the land in her
line of work, and knows the literature on the subject as well as the
COUNSELOR AMY BROWN LYMAN 11
workers and the authors. She has attended a number of sessions
of the National Conference of Social Work.
She has become an outstanding figure in the National Council
of Women. Its leading women admire her and seek her counsel.
She has attended a number of sessions and has served as Recording
Secretary of this organization and is now Auditor. By appointment
of the President of the Council, she was a United States delegate
to the Quinquennial meeting of the International Council in 1925.
She was a member of the State Legislature (House of Rep-
resentatives) in 1923, serving as chairman of Public Health. She
was Vice-Chairman of the State Welfare Commission as long as
it existed. She has served as Vice-Chairman of the Community
Clinic and on the Advisory Staff of the County Hospital ; and is at
present President of the Utah S^ate Conference of Social Workers.
Mrs. Lyman was recently elected to membership in Pi Gamma
Mu, the National Honorary Social Science Society of America.
Whatever line of work she undertakes she masters. When she
was made secretary of the Relief Society she began at once a
study of bookkeeping, office methods, and the work of secretaries,
with the result that she has made for the Relief Society a secre-
tary's office that would do credit to any business institution. Relief
Society workers and others who have to do with family and other
social problems are feeling the influence of her studies and activ-
ities. There are people in every stake and ward who are indebted
to Mrs. Lyman for helping them to handle social problems wisely
and well. She will not live long enough for the people generally
to comprehend the value of the far-reaching social service work she
has taken even to the remotest portions of the Church.
Perhaps her distinctive characteristics are her passion for
work,the amount of it she can do, her interest in books and studies,
and her devotion to the Church itself. But she has been best and
most devoted as a mother and home maker. Whoever enters her
door senses that cleanliness, order, hospitality, and good will that
make the home a haven of rest and happiness to all who dwell there.
For any and all successes which have come to her husband
he proudly gives more than half the credit to his wife. She has
been an unfailing support. In his university work, his practice
of engineering and in his Church work, all requiring long and
frequent absences from home, she has given him every assistance.
Not a word of complaint on this account has she ever spoken. No
man ever had a more devoted or efficient helpmeet.
Mrs. Lyman is a beautiful, queenly woman of a striking per-
sonality. Vivacious, happy, intensely interested in things and
people, she is enjoyed wherever she goes. While she has very
decided opinions and voices them clearly she is very tolerant of
those who differ with her.
Mrs. Lyman leaves the office of General Secretary with the
12 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
plaudits of her co-workers, "well done" and with the consciousness
that she has put into her work the best that she could give. She
has been an indefatigable worker and has left nothing undone that
would make the work effective and up-to-date. She has been an
inspiration to and has encouraged many young women to take up
Relief Society work. To her new position she brings a rich ex-
perience garnered through years of intelligent service. She knows
the Relief Society work in all its phases and in all its departments.
She has vision and an open mind, so while she will ever desire to
keep all 'the good of the past, she will ever wish to add the best that
the intelligence of the years brings and develops.
Quotations from Edmund Burke
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and giver; and adulation
is not of more service to the people than to kings.
People will not look forward to posterity, who never look
backward to their ancestors.
Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide
for human wants. Men have a right that these wants should be
provided for by this wisdom.
Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels
from principle.
Man is by his constitution a religious animal.
I Wonder
By !/. B. Green
I wonder when my soul is weighed
Against the measure given
I wonder will the verdict be —
"Well done, rest thou in heaven."
Or will He read my record o'er
With sorrow in His face
And say, "Thou art a stranger here
For you there is no place."
God grant my lessons I may learn
Though trials my teacher be,
So well, thou'lt be pleased to say
"Rest thou thy soul with Me."
Resignation
By Henry Van Dyke
With eager heart and will on fire,
I fought to win my great desire.
"Peace shall be mine," I said ; but life
Grew bitter in the endless strife.
My soul was weary, and my pride
Was wounded deep : to Heaven I cried,
"God grant me peace or I must die;"
The dumb stars glittered no reply.
Broken at last, I bowed my head,
Forgetting all myself, and said,
"Whatever comes, His will be done;"
And in that moment peace was won.
COUNSELOR JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD
Counselor Julia Alleman Child
By Julia A. F. Lund
The directing of ambition into spiritual channels, the linking
of knowledge with the common and necessary duties of life — these
traits constitute, perhaps, the outstanding characteristics of Julia
Alleman Child. In reviewing the events of her life, one feels that
she has demonstrated that some of this generation have not for-
gotten the deeper lessons taught by their pioneer mothers.
Julia was born in Springville, September 8, 1873, the daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Sariah Jane Starr Alleman. This fine couple,
both descendants of Revolutionary ancestry, were among Utah's
pioneers of 1850 and 1852, who played a major part in laying
the foundation of this state. They suffered the hardships, but
lived to see some of the fruits of their labors. Their spirit is pre-
served in their daughter.
Women of our day do not have to face the tasks their mothers
faced, but they have tasks of their own, which they cannot fail to
perform, while holding work not as a curse, but as a blessing. In
the greatness of her work, Julia has believed sincerely. She has
felt the thrill of service in her veins, and has been confident that
to her was given the privilege of playing a part in the community
in which she lived. This conviction has led her always to accept
each opportunity to do the work that has been given her.
Her girlhood was spent in Springville, where she attended the
public schools ; later she spent three years at the Brigham Young
University in Provo, under Dr. Karl G. Maeser. She took special
courses also at the University of Utah. Those who were fortunate
enough to be numbered among her schoolmates recall her popularity
and leadership, which were evident at a very early period. With
Julia, knowledge was the instrument of successful action; hers
was a career "perpetual in its triumph," physical, mental, spiritual ;
and the breadth of her young life was secured by a diversity of
interests and a wide range of activities. She seems to have acted
upon the advice of Luther Gulick, "to see that all the hours of the
day are so full of interesting and healthful occupations that there
is no chance for worry to stick its nose in."
Her school life was animated by a great and abiding purpose,
which found full expression in the profession which she followed
for so many years. It is said that right living is the finest of the fine
arts, and good teaching comes next because it is the most timely
and most efficient means to right living. Other arts reflect life —
teaching develops it. How successful Julia was in this field, and
16 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
how many young lives she directed in right paths, is suggested by
the fact that she taught in the Springville public schools for four-
teen years, where she was generally acknowledged to be one of the
best teachers in the county at that time. She was principal of two
Primary Buildings, and Primary Supervisor. Her efforts were
uniformly directed toward making "education a preparation for
complete living." Throughout life her educational contacts have
been very wide, both in the Church and in civic activities.
At the age of fifteen Julia was secretary of the Springville
Sunday School ; later she acted as a teacher. The Primary Asso-
ciation, also the Religion Class, profited by her efficient services.
She was counselor in the Y. L. M. I. A., in the Second Ward in
Springville, and later was in the Presidency of the Le Grande Ward
Mutual in Liberty stake. In August, 1912, Julia was chosen an
aid to President Emily H. Higgs of the Y. L. M. I. A. of Liberty
stake, and in 1917 was made a counselor to Mrs. Joseph A. Fol-
som, president of the Liberty stake Y. L. M. I. A. In May of the
same year she became the chairman of the Red Cross work in the
stake for the Mutual, discharging the duties of this important posi-
tion until the end of the war.
In the reorganization of the presidency and General Board
of the Relief Society in April, 1921, Julia was called to the General
Board, and served during the entire presidency of President Clar-
issa S. Williams.
It is constantly borne out that the human spirit has its greatest
development when it is exercising leadership. How many-sided
this great quality is in Mrs. Child may be understood, when, in
addition to her Church work and other educational contacts, some
of her civic activities are suggested. She has been Vice-Regent and
member of the Daughters of the Revolution, a member of the
Board of the Utah Public Health Association, Director and Vice
President of Salt Lake City Congress of Parent Teachers, and
member of the Board of Directors of the Civic Center.
Mrs. Child's public life has been the subject of this sketch up
to this point, and splendid as is this extensive public service to
her f ellowmen, to those who know her best, there is a side which
challenges even greater admiration, and that is her beautiful home
life. She was reared in a real Latter-day Saint household, which
was charged with the spirit of physical, mental, and spiritual vi-
tality. In that home, generous hospitality was coupled with the
thought that education is primarily a means to make men better,
and that it is useless to fill them with knowledge or stir them to
action unless it is all governed by the spirit that gives a higher
conception to life. These ideals were carried to fruition in Mrs.
Child's own home.
On June 3, 1908, she was married to George N. Child, a
worthy companion for a noble wife. He is, at present, the honored
COUNSELOR JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD 17
Superintendent of the Salt Lake City Schools. She is the mother
of one daughter and two sons. These have found in their mother
all that the sacred name implies ; but the tender and wonderful
manner in which she has rilled the place to her husband's five other
children, is one of her greatest achievements. In this, as in all
her fields of labor, she has used "knowledge as the instrument of
successful action," sympathy as the ability and disposition to apply
the Golden Rule, humility as the allegiance to what is spiritually
above us, love as the fulfilling of the law, "the greatest thing in the
world."
During the years she has been on the General Board she has
traveled extensively in the work, and has visited a great many of
the stakes, coming in close contact with the sisters of the organ-
ization. This experience, coupled with her breadth of vision and
wide educational outlook, has qualified her to be a safe and able
counselor to the General President.
Awakening
By Mary Hale Woolsey
One little dream I had (Now it is ended.) —
. . A tiny dream persisting through the years ;
Away within my heart's dim, deepest cloister,
A secret refuge from my pain and tears.
One little dream, sought out in wee small hours
When life grew dreary. — Oh, I thought that I
Could keep it always small and unimportant,
So that I need not grieve if it should die.
. But oh, dear heart ! — How sorely has betrayed me
My little dream I thought so still and sweet !
. . For now I know how all the while 'twas building
A thousand hopes to crumble at my feet !
GENERAL SECRETARY JULIA A. FARNSWORTH LUND
Julia A. Farnsworth Lund
General Secretary and Treasurer of the Relief Society
By M<ty Booth Talmage
The advantage of receiving as a goodly heritage the finest
characteristics of a long line of worthy ancestors is clearly em
phasized in Julia A. Farnsworth Lund. One may say that in
the truest sense she was well-born — through the lineage of the
Farnsworths and the Murdocks.
In addition to the advantages of these splendid qualities re-
ceived through inheritance, she has had superior home environment
and exceptional educational opportunities, thus combining the
three fundamentals that mean so much in the development of out-
standing men and women.
A daughter of Philo T. and Julia P. Murdock Farnsworth,
Julia was born in Beaver City, Utah, on December 2, 1874. Gifted
and beautiful from childhood, she exhibited traits of leadership
which have increased with the opportunities she so eagerly seized,
and the responsibilities she so willingly assumed. In watching
Julia one is constantly reminded of her no. less gifted mother, who
served with marked efficiency on the Relief Society General Board
for several years, and whose attractive and well ordered home radi-
ated a spirit of true hospitality and excellent management. Mrs.
Lund's scholastic training was obtained from the elementary
schools, the Beaver Stake Academy for one year, the Brigham
Young Academy for three years, and the University of Utah,
from which last-named institution she received the degree of
Bachelor of Arts.
When but nineteen years of age she attended the World's
Congress of Women, held in Chicago in the spring of 1893 ; and
as a representative of the young women of Utah she delivered
an address at that notable gathering. In 1896 she served a?
Secretary of the Republican Central Committee, and, during sub-
sequent years, has taken an active interest in political affairs.
In club work also Mrs. Lund has been given honor and
responsibility. When the General Federation of Women's Clubs
met in Denver, in the spring of 1898, she was made State Chair-
man of Correspondence for Utah. In 1899 she went to Phila-
delphia as a representative of the Utah State Society of the
Daughters of the Revolution, of which great organization she is
a charter member.
The active loyalty of Mrs. Lund toward her Alma Mater is
20 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
shown in her willing and efficient service as Vice President 01
the Alumni Association of the University of Utah in 1921-2,
and also as a member of the Union Building Committee at the
present time. As an instructor in Theology and English at the
Latter-day Saints College, her ability combined with her pleasing"
personality became a subject of favorable comment, and was
demonstrated by the over-crowded classes of students who elected
to take instruction from her.
In 1921, Julia A. Farns worth Lund was appointed a member
of the General Board of the Relief Society, and she served in
that capacity during the administration of Sister Clarissa S.
Williams. The wisdom of this choice has been clearly demon-
strated by the efficient service rendered by Sister Lund in the
varied responsibilities of her calling.
In the spring of 1925 she was appointed a member of the
Salt Lake County Red Cross Board — a position she still holds.
When Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde accepted the position of a U. S.
Customs officer in Honolulu, the president of the local Civic
Center Board asked for a member of the General Board of the
Relief Society to take Mrs. Hyde's place on the Civic Center
Board. Mrs. Lund was appointed to fill that vacancy in May
1925. The important position of Educational Director of the
Civic Center was accepted by Mrs. Lund and was retained by
her until she was called to her present office as General Secretary
of the Relief Society.
Primarily to gain greater efficiency for her work at the Civic
Center, Julia took a course at the University of California for
special training in Adult Education. This college work and the
experience gained at the Civic Center will doubtless prove an
invaluable asset for the new position now occupied by Mrs.
Lund.
Thus far we have written chiefly of the public activities of
our new Secretary, but many and varied as these are, one who
has been in a position to know Mrs. Lund in her home-life some-
what better than has the writer gives interesting side-lights that
indicate even greater attributes than are shown by this brilliant
public record.
When, on September 20th, 1900, Julia Farnsworth was mar-
ried for time and eternity to Henry C. Lund, she builded better
than she knew. To her own splendid heritage she added the
inestimable worth of another quite as strong, as all who knew
President Anthon H. Lund, of the First Presidency of the Church,
and President Canute Petersen of the Sanpete Stake, can testify.
Seven children were born to Brother and Sister Henry C. Lund,
and six of these are living. We quote a few of the well-deserved
tributes paid by the informant before mentioned :
"Julia is a mother to her children in the truest sense. She
JULIA A. F. LUND 21
not only cares for their physical welfare by providing them with
a well-balanced diet, making their clothing attractive by the
work of her own hands, and carefully guarding their health,
but she promotes a beautiful home-spirit and is commendably
ambitious for their educational and spiritual well-being. With
all her public duties she manages never to neglect her children.
She seems to understand every need and be equal to every demand.
She has instilled in the hearts of her children a very high regard
and perfect respect for their father. She had very close and
pleasant relationships with her husband's family, and was looked
upon more as a daughter in fact than as one who had married into
the family. To her sisters also she is a source of inspiration, and
they often seek her for counsel or advice. In fact," the speaker
concluded, "I can think of nothing that a mother should be that
Julia is not; and my years of association with her have filled
me with appreciation and admiration of her splendid life."
When her husband died, on September 5, 1925, an added
responsibility came into the life of Sister Lund ; but she met her
sorrow bravely and today faces life's problems with heroic courage.
She feels that her children and her Church now claim her whole
interest, and that home-making is the greatest profession for a
woman on earth.
In conning over and summing up the numerous and varied
honors and responsibilities that have been crowded into the years
of Sister Lund's earthly existence, one feels great assurance as
to her sympathetic understanding of the problems that now con-
front her; and we are comforted in the thought that in her new
and important position we shall find her an efficient and worthy
successor to the honored and illustrious Secretaries who have
preceded her.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Miss Alice Louise Reynolds
Mr». Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Mts. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Barbara Howell RichardsMrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - - - - - - - - Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager ..-..-.-. Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager ...... Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office. Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI JANUARY, 1929 No. 1
EDITORIAL
President Louise Yates Robison
With the ushering in of the new year we present the new
president, Louise Yates Robison, who, on October 7, 1928, was
sustained in the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints as seventh General President of the Relief
Society. President Robison comes to this important office with a
number of outstanding qualifications. Kindliness and good will
towards others is with her both a science and an art. It is pai^t of
her natural equipment from both inheritance and cultivation. Since
relief work is the phase on which chief emphasis is placed in the
organization the inclination to help those who are in need of help
must be a main part of the equipment of any president of a Relief
Society.
Two things a good executive must be able to do: she must
have the vision to see what is necessary to be done ; also she must
have the executive ability to carry out the things she sees. Some
people have the mental ability to map out work but lack the art of
putting over the plan after it has been formulated. Others have
the power to execute, but lack the vision to see or know what
were good to be done. President Robison appears to combine the
ability of both seeing and doing.
EDITORIAL 23
It is almost axiomatic that a real leader will call around her
people well suited to perform the particular tasks to which they
are assigned. President Robison is, therefore, to be congratulated
on her choice of counselors and secretary. It is one of the high
points of leadership to surround oneself with efficient help ; and in
her first official act — that of selecting an efficient executive com-
mittee— she has given evidence of this high order of leadership.
The new president was trained in a home in Scipio, where the
possibilities for learning and refinement under pioneer conditions
taxed in the highest degree those who lived in the community. All
that could be achieved had to be wrought through hard work,
with such help as our Father lends to those who diligently seek
and serve him. In such an environment Mrs. Robison was reared.
She has developed a high degree of spirituality which can be felt
by those with whom she meets or labors. The deep joy she expe-
riences in her Temple work is added evidence of her love for things
spiritual. Through the experience of her lifetime she has learned
to rely on the Lord ; and where she places her reliance, she will
lead others to place theirs. She believes in the ultimate triumph
of good ; and where her faith is, her works will follow.
In public address the new president is persuasive. Lighting
up and transforming all her thoughts is a countenance of rare
sweetness. Her charm and grace of manner, which are part of a
really lovely personality, will shed a benediction on every stake that
she may visit. She will be a most welcome visitor wherever it is her
good pleasure to go ; for one of her gifts is the ability to touch and
win the hearts of those with whom she comes in contact.
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman
In an editorial on Amy Brown Lyman, as General Secretary,
we emphasized her familiarity with the work of the Relief Society.
The information and experience she has gained as secretary is now
available for her new office, that of counselor to President Louise
Y. Robison. Added to her knowledge and experience are a group
of engaging and trustworthy qualities of mind and heart that have
made Mrs. Lyman successful in the numerous positions that she
has filled during her industrious life. Coupled with her mental
qualities are spiritual qualities developed through years of service.
We would emphasize that from early childhood she has been nur-
tured in the spirit of her religion. The home from which she came
cherished above all else the priceless gift of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Her father's and her mother's names are synonyms of
sacrifice for the establishment of the work and the rearing of their
children, with a love for spiritual values. Her life has been char-
acterized by devotion to the gospel. She has made sacrifices to
24 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
establish institutions that are of great value. Her devotion as a
teacher in the Brigham Young University, like her work in the
Relief Society at the present time, has been inspired in the main
by a desire to magnify the gospel work in the earth. Throughout
her life her intellectual gifts have been coupled with spiritual
qualities.
Counselor Julia Alleman Child
Julia Alleman Child is a descendent of the early makers of
Latter-day Saint history. The witnesses of the Book of Mormon
must always stand out conspicuously among those who made the
early history of the Church. Mrs. Child's great grandmother,
whom she remembers, was a sister of Martin Harris. The Harris
family has produced a number of outstanding men and women,
and among these is Julia Alleman Child. Many people recognize
in her character a delightful balance, an all-roundedness, a clear
headedness that is both useful and admirable; just the type of
person one might be led to select for a counselor. She has good
judgment and a heart as well as a mind that penetrates into human
affairs so that people naturally draw near her because she under-
stands.
Mrs. Child has devoted much of her life to education. Her
husband is superintendent of the Salt Lake City schools, so that
matters of an educational nature are often referred to her. We are
sure that many of our readers will recall that on a number of
occasions Sister Child has made outstanding addresses before the
conference on educational subjects. Her addresses are noted for
the splendid material that she assembles, and the clear, effective
way in which she puts over that material.
There is no substitute in life's work for common sense or
loyalty. Sister Child possesses both these characteristics in large
measure. She is loyal to her Church, loyal to the Relief Society,
and will be loyal to President Louise Y. Robison, to whom she
has been called to act as second counselor. There is another
attribute necessary for success in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and that is faith in the divinity of the latter-
day work, faith in God and in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the
world and the Redeemer of mankind. Sister Child had training
in her adolescent years under that great master teacher, Karl G.
Maeser, who daily. emphasized the spiritual values of life above all
others. She has shown in her conduct throughout her life that she
did not come into contact with the great master without avail.
She is a woman of unusual charm. Her dark eyes beam with
intelligence and her countenance lights up as thoughts and emo-
tions play upon her face. She is kind and sympathetic in her
EDITORIAL 25
attitude towards all with whom she comes in contact. She is
one whose spirit would tend to bring order out of chaos, harmony
out of discord, good will out of ill will, and peace where the cry
has gone forth that there is no peace.
General Secretary and Treasurer Julia A. F. Lund
Julia A. F. Lund is a member of a family that is outstanding
in education and business. Her brother and sisters are recognized
with her for their intellectual gifts. Mrs. Lund has devoted her-
self to education. She married Henry C. Lund, son of President
Anthon H. Lund, who was a lawyer by profession. Mrs. Lund
obtained her education in the Brigham Young Academy, the
University of Utah, from which she took her degree and from
institutions outside of the state, such as the University of Cali-
fornia. Since her husband's death she has spent most of her time
as director of educational work at the Salt Lake Civic Center,
a position which gave her experience in administration.
Mrs. Lund has a keen mind and is everywhere recognized
as a well informed woman. This information has been made
manifest through her writings, through her teaching and through
her public addresses. To her accumulation of knowledge she
adds that indescribable something which may be personality and
may be a gift of interpreting, enhancing, and transforming what
she says. She is brilliant, naturally gifted as a speaker, and
perhaps has the best right to be styled an orator of any member
of the Board. She will bring to her new office, which is a very-
exacting office, information, brilliance, administrative experience
and a fascinating personal address.
Sister Lund has a spiritual nature and her spirituality is
contagious. She has faith in the religion she has espoused, and
in the work of the great Relief Society, with whose fortune she
has allied herself. She has an abiding faith in the triumph of
the good, the true, and the beautiful. That which is unlovely,
ordinary, or in any sense below a high standard, never appeals to
her. You can arouse her nature at any time to the very depths
by lending defense to anything wrong or unlovely. She has hitched
her wagon to the stars, and there she has fixed her gaze ; that which
is low or groveling is no part of her.
Of refined tastes and delicate emotions, she is a woman of
stable character. In thinking of her we are reminded of an artist's
definition of an artist : "An artist is what he paints, plus." The plus
is that which is of most importance, for it is the thing which
determines whether the picture is bad, mediocre, or a work of art
of the first magnitude. It is the plus that makes of the picture
26 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
a work of art. It is the plus which raises everything Mrs. Lund
speaks about or works at, from the level of the ordinary into a
higher realm. President Robison is to be congratulated on her
choice of Mrs. Lund as secretary for she will grace this position
as she has graced all the positions that she has filled during her
active public life.
The Eliza Roxey Snow Poem Contest
Fifty poems were submitted for the 1928 Poem Contest.
The winners in the contest are Mrs. Alice M. Walker and Miss
Josephine Spencer. Honorable mention will be given to the poems
of Mrs. Maud Chegwidden, Mrs. Sarah Ahlstrom Nelson, and
Mrs. J. Parton.
We are gratifed over two matters relating to the 1928 contest ;
first, that Miss Josephine Spencer, whose writings have been
published by practically every periodical in the state over a rather
extended period of time, should receive one of the prizes. This
poem was submitted only a few days before her death. Secondly,
we are gratified in the range of territory represented by the
successful contestants. Mrs. Walker lives in Redmesa, Colorado.
Miss Spencer's home at the time of her death was in California.
Mrs. Chegwidden lives in Murray, Utah. Mrs. Nelson lives in
Rexburg, Idaho, and Mrs. J. Parton's home is in Penshurst, New
South Wales, Australia.
The judges of the 1928 contest were Mrs. Amy Brown Lyman
of the General Board, Dr. George E. Fellows of the facuty of
the University of Utah, and Mrs. Christen Jensen of the faculty
of the Brigham Young University.
The magazine congratulates the winners in the contest and
trusts that they may feel encouraged to go on with their work.
Editor's Note
We are publishing in this issue of the magazine a one-act play
entitled "The Miracle" — By Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine, a member
of the General Board. We know that at this season of the year a
good many presidents are looking about for material for their
seventeenth of March programs.
We trust that the organizations will find this play appropriate
and useful. We are not urging that it be made use of, each society
is at perfect liberty to use any material that it sees fit to use, but
in case the officers are searching for something this may meet
their need.
A Song for New Year's
By Shirley Rei Gudmundsen
Tis Old Year's Night.
The room is dim.
The faint moving shadow on the little table
Of polished walnut
Far from the sharp white flames
That dance over red embers in the fireplace.
These, and the lighted globe on the fir tree
In the corner,
Cast a soft glow, that catches
All the sparkle of the tinsel,
All the glitter of the little tin track
On which the toy train
Has circled noisily, dutifully, for a week.
Against a chair leg
The round-eyed doll reclines
As though in musing, sweetly.
And the air is filled
With filmy haze of incense,
Sandalwood,
From the Joss on the mantel.
His sleepy face is wreathed in smoke
As though it might be a token
Of the peace, with all existing things
That wrap about his soul.
'Tis New Year's Morn.
A little space of minutes makes it so.
And now
The room is filled with light, efficiently,
And all its corners are illuminated.
The table and the tree have lost their quiet magic
Of half darkness,
And the hearth is but a fireplace
For warming.
The door is opened ;
On the frost night is borne
Medleys of the noise
That seek to make a mark on fleeting time.
The cold air rushes in,
Dispels the smoke of incense,
Makes as though to bring
New roses to the doll's cheeks,
New thoughts for those round eyes to startle 3f,
MRS. ALICE M. WALKER
w w w r
My Neighbor
Alice M. Walker
Poem awarded first prize in the Eliza Roxey Snow Poetry
Contest
Life was so full of petty caje
I had no time to really live,
No happiness had I to share,
No song to sing, no joy to give.
Each day passed by on weary wings,
Each night brought only brief surcease,
I could not sense the greater things,
Could only work, and wait — for peace.
And then you came, and lo, it seemed
That through your eyes I learned to see
Life, beauty, faith, of which I'd dreamed
But never hoped could come to me.
I learned the joy of daily tasks,
And found the calm of cloudy days,
I came to know that Duty masks
The entrance to Life's sweetest ways.
You went away, but still I hold
The power you gave, to smile and sing,
To tinge the darkest clouds with gold,
And see God's hand in everything.
MISS JOSEPHINE SPENCER
Etched
Josephine Spencer
Poem awarded second prize in the Eliza Roxey Snow Poetry
Contest '
The horizon a hazy line ;
Foreground, a patch of crusted brine;
Buff beach, brown shore, a waveless sea —
With noon sun burning all the three.
South edge of serrate, Vandyke peaks ;
Pale island headlands laid in streaks
Against the west; a northern shore
Set dark against the lake's blue floor.
Dun prairies laid along the east
With dingy clumps of sage-brush creased;
And still, white ponds of alkali ;
A splash of green, a cool stream rolled
Through wheatfields beaded thick with gold; —
And then a city, lifting high,
Thin, pointed spires against the sky.
The Miracle
By Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine
A Play In One Act, Two Scenes
Cast of Characters:
Mrs. Driggs, a widow old enough to have a son returning
from a mission.
Her Children:
Nancy, seventeen years old, sweet and dependable.
Ruth, fifteen years old, high spirited but not impertinent.
Allen, nine years old; Bobby, six years old — just boys.
Scene I
Scene : (A poorly furnished room. Mrs. Driggs is discovered
sewing on a bright colored house dress. Patterns and material and
a sewing machine show that making housedresses is her business.
Allen and Bobby are playing on the floor. Ruth appears in the
doorway of the kitchen adjoining, with a potato in one hand and
a vegetable brush in the other. There is a pause after the curtain
rises, long enough for the audience to get the atmosphere of the
scene. )
Ruth: (speaking gently) Allen, run out and get me some
wood for the fire. (Exeunt boys.)
Mrs. Driggs: Be sure to wash the potatoes clean, Ruthie.
Ruth : ( Calling from the kitchen where she can be seen at
work) Oh, sugar! Mother, consider the poor dumb animals, how
they starve. I'd feel like a thief if I met a pig.
Mrs. Driggs : There's real food value in the peelings. Don't
you remember, dear, when the doctor had me drink soup made from
them?
Ruth: (Entering) Now mother, I know exactly what you are
going to say; a French family could live out of an American
family's garbage can. But now, I'm asking you confidentially,
who wants to live out of a garbage can?
Mrs. Driggs: It's only said to illustrate their economy, dear.
Ruth : Mother, you say that poverty is a blessing in disguise.
It may be, but I don't like the disguise. You bet when Ned
comes home, we'll have something to eat besides skim milk and
potatoes.
Mrs. Driggs : Returned missionaries sometimes have a hard
time getting work. Ned hasn't even a trade.
Ruth : Yes, that's the worst of it, and no money to put him
through college as father had intended. Poor Neddy, it'll be
pretty hard for him to come home and find father gone — and us
32 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in this way — (with an expressive gesture around the scantily
furnished room).
Mrs. Driggs: Yes, dear, but he is brave, and he will do all
he can to take father's place. (She struggles to control her emo-
tions.) What is troubling me lately is that the mortgage on the
home is so long past due — I haven't been able to pay even the
interest for a long time; and Mr. Gray tells me that he has a
customer for the place who wants to take possession immediately.
That means we may have to move out before Neddy comes home.
The house where he was born! (wiping her eyes. Then with an
effort to regain her cheerfulness.) If we can just hold out a little
longer, I know things will be all right.
Ruth : Mother, you darling. All your clouds are lined with
gold and precious stones. The trouble is, they are such heavenly
things we can't sell them for roast beef and ice cream.
Mrs. Driggs: There are many things worse than poverty,
dearie.
Ruth : Well, there may be, but I haven't happened to meet
them yet.
Mrs. Driggs : Why, living as we have, we have been able to
keep Ned on his mission, even after father died. It's been worth
it, hasn't it?
Ruth : Oh sure ! but life's awfully unfair. Some people have
everything.
Mrs. Driggs: Indeed, who for instance?
Ruth : Oh, everybody ! I have less than any girl I know —
except Nancy. Millie Barnes has everything.
Mrs. Driggs: Yes, I've heard you say she even has a bad
temper.
Ruth : I'll say she has !
Mrs. Driggs: Would you like to change places with her?
Ruth: Sugar! I should say not.
Mrs. Driggs : Why do you say "sugar" all the time Ruthie ?
Ruth : Well, you won't let me say "heck" or "gee" or "darn,"
and I have to say something, so I chose a nice, sweet, word.
Mrs. Driggs : How would you like to be Alice Randall ? She
has plenty of money, and is very sweet, too.
Ruth : I don't want to be motherless Alice Randall, nor hate-
ful Millie Barnes. I don't want to be anyone but me, I, and
myself, only I've got an over-developed wishbone. Mother, I wish
so hard sometimes that I almost make things come true.
Mrs. Driggs: Of course, dear, if we have faith enough, all
things are possible. But we must be sure that our wishes are
righteous and progressive, — in harmony with the upward trend of
perfect life.
(Nancy enters. She takes off her hat and lays it on the table.
She seems listless and depressed.)
THE MIRACLE 33
Ruth : Well, what's the glad news, Nance. You look about
as cheerful as a spell of conference weather.
Nancy. (She begins bravely but is weeping before she fin-
ishes speaking.) Mother, Mrs. Gray didn't pay me for the dresses.
She says you are charging too much for them. She said she'd
keep these because she had promised to ; but she can get better ones
at Denby's for less money, and she said she couldn't pay me today
but that she'd send the money over in a few days.
Ruth : Why didn't you tell her to go to— SUGAR !
Nancy: I'm afraid I made a ninny of myself. I burst out
crying right before her. Oh, I'm sorry, mother, but I couldn't help
it. I was so tired and disappointed, and I knew we didn't have a
thing in the house for supper, and no money.
(She sits down by her mother and lays her head in Mrs.
Driggs' lap. Mrs. Driggs pets her fondly.)
Ruth : That shows what kind of an animal she is ! You bet
the next time I see her I'll say "Scat !"
Mrs. Driggs: (Reprovingly) Ruth, dear.
Ruth: I wish she'd be hungry for awhile for the sake of
keeping that great, fat son of hers on a mission. Now, mother,
that's a good wish, a righteous and progressive wish, and I am
going to keep on wishing it hard enough for it to come true.
Mrs. Driggs: Darlings, we mustn't be hard and bitter, that
only reacts on ourselves. You know the only reason that people
are wicked or unkind is because they don't understand. If we are
more intelligent or generous than some people we should be
very thankful and not be cross with them about it. Ruth, dear,
call the boys.
(Exit Ruth).
Nancy: Mother, Mrs. Gray was disagreeable. She said if
people who borrowed money from them would only pay it back
it would be better for everybody. It was mean of her when she
knows that we put the mortgage on the home when father died
to pay all those heavy expenses and to keep Ned on his mission ;
and she knows that we haven't had a thing to live on except what
we have made by sewing.
Mrs. Driggs: Now, dearie, you mustn't be unjust. Men
seldom tell their wives about those things, and Mr. Gray has been
very lenient. It isn't his fault that we have been unfortunate.
Nancy: I can't understand it. You'd think that we deserve
blessings. When you think that father died just three months after
Ned had left for his mission and we had all that sorrow and
expense and not a soul to help us — . Well, not many people would
have done what we have done.
Mrs. Driggs: Oh yes, anyone would who loved the gospel
as we do, and we've lived through it.
Nancy: (She takes her hat into an adjoining room, return-
34 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ing in a few moments, speaking before she enters the room.)
Mother, have you sold your Cameo?
Mrs. Driggs: Yes, dear.
Nancy: (Entering, speaks sorrowfully) Oh, mother that's
the last thing we had of grandma's and we all loved it so.
Mrs. Driggs: Yes, I know, dear, and it was to have been
yours ; but there's no help for it. Mrs. Anderson bought it, and
she was very generous. The money she gave me for it will keep
us until Ned comes home.
Nancy: (With a significant gesture around the room) I
don't think there is another thing in the whole house that we could
sell. Mother, we've literally fulfilled the command of the Savior
to the young man to sell all he had and follow him, haven't we ?
Mrs. Driggs : Yes, dear, and our reward is that our boy has
been able to fill a good mission, and we all have good health and
each other. And now, he is going to be released and will soon be
home.
(Ruth and the boys are heard in the kitchen putting wood in
a box. As they enter the boys are quarreling.)
Bobby: (Crying) You give me back my top.
Allen: I haven't got your old top, cry baby.
Bobby: You have too, I saw you take it. (He strikes at
Allen and catches hold of him. They struggle together.)
Ruth : (Taking hold of one boy with each hand, she gives them
a little shake.) Hi, there, you little hyenas! Get on your own
side of the cage!
Mrs. Driggs : ( Speaking gently. The boys obey her instant-
ly.) Bobby, hand mother the Bible. Allen you may select the
hymn, and repeat our watchword for the day.
Allen: (Kissing his mother.) I'm sorry, Mother. I forgot.
(Then he stands by her side and repeats) "Be ye perfect, even as
your Father in heaven is perfect."
Altogether : (In concert) "Be ye perfect, even as your Father
in heaven is perfect." (Allen goes to a side table or shelf and gets a
church song book, which he opens and looks for a hymn.)
Mrs. Driggs : Now, Ruthie, please tell us what your reaction
was on the thing that has tried you most today.
Ruth : ( Crossing her fingers in view of the audience, but so
that her mother can't see them.) I wish Mrs. Gray a long life
of health, wealth and happiness. I'd willingly share my last potato
peeling with her.
Mrs. Driggs: (Shakes her head at Ruth reprovingly) Have
you found a hymn, Allen? (Allen has selected a hymn that they
can all sing well together. When they finish singing, Mrs. Driggs
opens the Bible and hands it to Nancy, who reads from the four-
teenth chapter of St. John.
Nancy : (Reading) "Believe me that I am in the Father, and
THE MIRACLE 35
the Father in me ; or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the
works that I do, shall he do also; and greater works than these
shall he do ; because I go unto my father ;
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son,
If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it. If ye love me
keep my commandments. — "
(While Nancy is reading these last words a sharp knock is
heard on the door. Ruth answers the door and signs for a letter,
which Allen snatches from her hands to his mother).
Nancy : (Laying down the Bible looks anxiously at the letter
as her mother opens it.) A special delivery airmail letter! It
isn't Ned's handwriting, I wonder what it can be?
(They all crowd around their mother as she opens the letter
with trembling fingers.)
Mrs. Driggs: (Reading aloud) "My dear Sister Driggs: It
is with deepest sorrow that I am compelled to inform you that
your son Edwin was seized with acute appendicitis this morning.
We rushed him to the hospital — "
( She grows faint and Nancy takes the letter from her. )
Nancy: (Continuing the reading) "We rushed him to the
hospital. We were fortunate in being able to secure the services
of the noted surgeon, Dr. Humbolt. They wouldn't let me stay
in the operating room with Ned, so I called the Saints and mission-
aries together, and we've had a most wonderful prayer meeting for
him. The doctors give us no hope whatever. But we all feel that he
will recover! We are praying, with all our hearts, and are going
to fast until he is better. We don't intend to give up. If, how-
ever, in the wisdom of God, your son is taken you can always be
happy in the knowledge that he died as he lived, full of faith and
courage, and that he has been called to a greater work. He is a
very noble young man, and a son to be proud of. He is dearly
beloved by all who know him. I am writing this letter thinking
that it will be less of a shock to you than a cablegram. I shall
return immediately to the hospital, and will keep you constantly
informed. May God bless and comfort you, dear sister. Your
friend and brother, Albert Brown, President
Mission."
(During the reading Nancy's voice falters. She reads with
great effort.)
Mrs. Driggs sits motionless, her eyes slightly raised as if in
prayer. The children are sobbing and trying to comfort their
mother.)
Mrs. Driggs: (Her lips move several times before she can
force them to utter the words) "Whatsoever ye ask in my name
will I do ; if ye ask anything in my name, I will do it."
(During the last words of this speech the curtain slowly falls).
36 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Scene II
(Scene same as before, a month later. Nancy and Ruth are
discovered sewing on house dresses. An air, of cheerfulness per-
vades the place. A vase or two of flowers or blooming plants make
the room look as if it had been dressed up for a festive occasion).
Ruth: (Excitedly) "Oh gee! I mean Sugar! I don't be-
lieve six o'clock will ever come. I simply can't wait, that's all."
Nancy : (Who feels deeply, but is more calm) Well, what are
you going to do about it ?
Ruth : I'm afraid I'll go up in smoke. Poof ! Just like that !
(with an expressive gesture) I was never so excited in my life. I
don't see how mother has stood it this last month.
Nancy: (Tenderly) Oh, mother ! She's equal to anything. But
wasn't it wonderful the way the tide turned, and the good news
came pouring in ? A cable from Brother Brown telling of the mir-
acle of Ned's being healed almost before we had finished reading
his first letter. And all the letters that have come since. I like the
dear old doctor's letter best of all.
Ruth : My, wasn't it just like a fairy tale, written in his quaint
English ? I certainly would have loved to be there, and have seen
all those great surgeons stare when Ned told them he was well, and
they didn't need to operate. Can't you feature their eyes popping
right out of their heads ?
Nancy: Yes, and they realized it was a miracle, too. Dr.
Humbolt said Ned's face was transfigured, and shone like an
angel's. And then, his taking Ned to his own home to watch him,
fearing that it might be a peculiar case of hysteria.
Ruth: Yes, and then learning to love Neddy so much that
he wants to adopt him.
Nancy : No, not adopt him, make him his heir.
Ruth: Weel, annyhoo, as the Greeks say, I bet it jarred them
loose from a lot of their old prejudices.
Nancy : It proves what mother says is true, that Ned couldn't
have been instantly healed without faith, and that with faith, if we
have enough of it, the things we now call miracles would be
everyday occurrences. She says the only surprising thing is that
in our Church we use the gift so little.
Ruth : Well, it's been a lesson to me. Hereafter I shall move
all the mountains out of my pathway.
Nancy: You mustn't joke about it, Ruth.
Ruth : I'm not joking. I was never more serious in my life.
If I'd felt like this a month ago I might have told Mrs. Gray to
move to yonder place, or, like the sycamore, be cast into the sea ;
but since her change of heart, I love her half to death. (Glancing
out of the window.) Oh there she comes now, bringing mother
THE MIRACLE 37
home in their new Cad sedan, mother looking like the queen and
lady that she is.
(Both girls go to the window and look out, then run to the
door. They wave and call greetings to Mrs. Gray. Mrs. Driggs
enters with two large packages which Nancy takes from her and
puts on the table, beginning to untie the string. Ruth seats her
mother in a rocking chair and removes her hat and wrap which
she tosses up and catches as a juggler would. Nancy opens bundles,
displaying a large cake and a pan of fried chicken. They all ex-
claim over the things).
Mrs. Driggs : Mrs. Gray was on her way here with the chicken
for our dinner when I met her and she took me to do a few
errands. As we were coming home we met Mattie McDonald com-
ing over with the cake. They both said they thought we would
be too excited to do much cooking today. I went into Risers to
order some ice cream, and Henry insisted on sending a gallon
as his treat. He says Ned can tuck away more ice cream than
anyone he has ever seen.
Ruth : Ain't people grand ! I've decided to be an optimist.
Mrs. Driggs: It would be hard for us to be anything else
with all the lovely things everybody is doing for us.
Ruth : Oh, mother, I'm so excited I'm nigh to busting1. I'll
just have to stand on my head or dance a jig or something.
Mrs. Driggs: Let it be a jig then by all means, dear. (Ruth
dances few steps). You haven't noticed my pin yet, girls. (Both
girls exclaim with surprise at the cameo Mrs. Driggs is wearing.)
Mrs. Anderson gave it to me this afternoon. She said she couldn't
think of keeping it after hearing about Ned ; and that I must con-
sider the money a loan.
Ruth: (Catching Nancy around the waist and whirling her
about the room.) Just think ! He's coming tonight ! Oh mother !
why that's almost now !
Nancy: (Pulling Ruth toward the kitchen) If you need exer-
cise, Sis, come in the kitchen and peel potatoes.
Mrs. Driggs: There's nothing to do, girls, about the dinner,
except to set the table, and we won't do that right now. I prepared
the vegetables before I went out, and made a pan of biscuits ready
to pop into the oven when we want them. Hand me that dress,
Nancy. I am like Ruth. I must do something to work off my
excitement.
Nancy : We are all infested with the same spirit. It's always
that way, mother. You say we never do anything by halves.
Ruth : And this just adds to the evidence that you know your
onions. When we go in for bad luck we go the limit, get our fill
then quit, and give someone else a chance. Right now we are
strong for prosperity. The tide has turned, our ships are coming
38 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in faster than we can unload them. And to think! It all began
with Nancy's deluge that day at Mrs. Gray's.
Nancy. (Reproachfully) Oh Ruth!
Ruth : Mother, how's this for a "pome" ?
Weep and your neighbors help you,
Laugh and they throw a stone :
This gray old earth is tired of mirth ;
If you want help just give a groan.
Mrs. Driggs: Ruthie, you're irrepressible.
Ruth: (Kissing her mother) Irresistible, you mean, dear.
Nancy: Mother, don't you think Mrs. Gray is wonderful?
The way she followed me home that day — and — and — everything?
Mrs. Driggs : I certainly do, Nancy. Anyone can be gener-
ous with money ; but it requires true courage and nobility to admit
a fault and show such kindness and generosity as she has done ever
since.
Nancy : She's a peach.
Ruth: She's better than that. She's a pear. That is, she and
her husband are together. He's a lamb. Oh sugar ! I'm getting
my metaphors or something mixed again. Annyhoo, I love them
both.
Mrs. Driggs : Did any word come while I was gone ?
Ruth : Woman ! Good luck has turned your head. How
many special delivery, airmail letters and cablegrams do you expect
in one day? We've had two letters and one wire already this
morning.
Nancy : Mother, I don't know what is going to happen to us
with all this good luck. You've laughed more in the last month
than you have altogether since fa — for ages.
Ruth : And Nancy, just look at her, Mother ! She's positively
blooming. And the boys, too. Did you know that Allen had bet
his teacher an ice cream cone that he'd be president of the United
States ? And Bob's wanting to bet me his top against a nickel that
he'll be a millionaire. May they both live to collect it !
Nancy : Brother Brown said he'd keep us informed —
Ruth: (Interrupting her) Well, he certainly has done that
little thing. And he's not the only one. I believe every man,
woman, and child in the entire mission has written us at least one
letter in the last month.
Nancy: And lots of outsiders, too. Mother, just what did
Dr. Humbolt mean about making Ned his heir?
Ruth : Didn't he want to adopt him ?
Mrs. Driggs : No dear, I don't think he wanted to do that, but
he has already made him his heir.
Ruth : Oh well, what's a few adoptions more or less between
millionaires ?
Nwicy : I remember just what he said, mother. I know the
letter off by heart.
THE MIRACLE 39
Ruth: So do I.
Mrs. Driggs : I think likely we all do, dear.
Nancy : (Quoting) I love your son, Madam, because through
him I have learned the power and goodness of God. My so unusual
experience of seeing his miraculous healing — (she hesitates with
emotion).
Ruth : (Continuing) My own loved son was killed in the war,
and his mother died of heart break. Since then I am alone. Ned
tells me that all his life he has wanted to become a great surgeon.
Madam, because I love your boy, and because for what he has done
for me, will you permit me to do for him as for my own son?
Whether you consent or not, already by legal deed I have given
him half my money ; the rest will be his when I die." Talk about
fairy godmothers ! they can't hold a candle to fairy godfathers !
Mrs. Driggs: (Controlling her emotion with an effort) It is
all so wonderful I can scarcely believe it is true. But the part of
his letter that I loved most of all was this : "I used to believe in
miracles and hoped that I might sometime see one, but for ten years
my faith is dead. Until now ! I believe ! I believe ! Ned tells me
that the family relation is eternal, and that again in the hereafter
my loved ones I shall have. That brings me a most wonderful
happiness ! And you can know now, Madam, why it is that I love
your boy so much. If all Mormons are like Ned and his friends
this gospel that he is always telling me about must be good. I am
with years and sorrow grown very old." (Her voice breaks. She
and Nancy are weeping softly. Ruth brushes her hand hastily
across her eyes.)
Ruth: (Shaking her fist at the clock) Oh Sapphira, you old
donkey ! You tell everything but the truth. Say, I'm going out to
engage the brass band to play, "Kail, the Honkering Kero Hums."
Nancy: (Looking out the window gasps) Mother! (She
runs to the door and looks eagerly down the street) Mother!
Mother! There comes Ned now! Oh, mother, our Ned has
come home !
(Ruth rushes to the door and pushes Nancy aside. Mrs.
Driggs attempts to rise but sinks back limply.)
Ruth: (Excitedly) It sure enough is! Hooray! He must
have caught the Limited. I can see him as big as Hercules. He's
got Allen on his back and Bob's in his arms, and the whole neigh-
borhood fighting to carry his bags. Hi there, Ned! (She fairly
tumbles out of the door.)
Nancy : (Putting her arm around her mother) Come, moth-
er, darling, shan't we meet him?
(There are sounds outside of the eager exclamation of a
crowd; and a clear, manly voice calling:) Mother! Mother dear!
I'm home!
Mrs. Driggs: Oh, God, I thank thee! Ned! My boy, my
boy! (She rises and starts toward the door as the curtain falls.)
Pioneers
Hamlin Garland's Triology — A Son of the Middle Border, A
Daughter of the Middle Border, Trail-Makers of the Middle
Border
By Lais V. Hales
Our most consistent contributor to the pioneer history of the
Western frontier is Hamlin Garland. Critics say that if the 'great
American novel' is ever written, it is probable that it will be Hamlin
Garland who will write it. Mr. J. M. Chappie states that even
though he might be in a city hotel with Mr. Garland he feels as if
he were sitting in the home of a sturdy pioneer,
Mr. Garland is particularly fitted to write of the pioneer days
on the Western frontier. He was born in West Salem, Wisconsin,
in 1860. He grew up in the woods of Wisconsin and the prairies
of Iowa, and at one time took up "a claim" in Dakota. A great
traveler, he is intimately acquainted with our country from Alaska
to Central America. He was educated at the Cedar Valley Sem-
inary ahd began to write in 1877. His pen is still busy. At the
present time he is especially interested in the American Indian,
whose origin he is endeavoring to fathom.
A Son of the Middle Border relates the story of Hamlin Gar-
land's boyhood days on the Western frontier, and has become an
American classic. It tells vividly of his early literary enthusiasms
and his plunge into letters. Many critics say it is unquestionably
hisi masterpiece.
A Daughter of the Middle Border carries his autobiography
down to a later date, and narrates parallel with it the history of the
charming girl who became his wife.
Trail-Makers of the Middle Border tells the story of Garland's
father and mother and of the time in which they lived. When in
the winter of '49 glowing tales of the golden sands, the flourishing
prairies, the green pastures, and the lush waters of the West
reached Richard Graham (in reality, Hamlin Garland's father)
he left the bleak, drab farm in Vermont and took up a farm in
southwestern Wisconsin. Richard soon fell in love with the pretty
daughter of his Scotch neighbor. Years of home-building fol-
lowed. During the summer months he labored at sowing and
reaping. In the winter he joined the lumberjacks in their logging
adventures on the waters of the turbulent Wisconsin River. Then
came the Civil War. Richard joined the forces of the Union and
"served it vaguely and General Grant very definitely." One of the
finest things about Trail-Makers of the Middle Border is Garland's
description of the Civil War and the part General Grant played in
PIONEERS 41
it. He thus describes Grant : "The silent, brownish-red bearded
failure of forty, battling grimly to eminence against the hostility
of the politicians. While high commissions were being recklessly
given to civilians who knew nothing of arms or military discipline,
the West Point graduate, the trained soldier of many campaigns,
could not even win an audience to present his cause. * * *
Then overnight, almost, he became to the*West 'Our General.' The
President asked : 'Who is this man Grant, who fights battles and
wins them ?' "
But the best thing about Garland's triology is the picture he
gives us of pioneering days in the North Middle West. His de-
scriptions of the new, undeveloped country are poetic and true.
His descriptions of the days of the two-wheeled ox-carts, crooked
scythes, and high spinning wheels are classic. He has thoroughly
appreciated the heroism of the pioneer. He has realized the beauty
and the cruelty of the forests and prairies of the West. We get
a fine picture of the drudgery, the dirt, the soul-grinding poverty
of pioneer life. We realize, perhaps as never before, the physical
energy required of the successful pioneer. "Up at break of day,
eating their buckwheat cakes by candlelight, they were at work at
dawn. A day's labor reached from dawn to dusk, and no man
thought of shirking. What skill, what endurance, what courage
the smallest of them displayed !"
The character of Hamlin Garland shines through his writings
We feel his sympathy, his honesty, his tolerance, his democracy.
He, of all our writers, is most fitted to write the great American
pioneer novel. His friendship for John Burroughs is a telling
item in his life. When questioned as to his favorite poems he
listed first Burrough's hopeful, tender poem "Waiting"
Serene I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind, nor tide, or sea ;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate
For, lo, my own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays,
For what avails this eager pace ?
I stand amid the eternal ways,
And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me ;
No wind can drive my bark astray
Nor change the tide of destiny.
The stars come nightly to the sky,
The tidal wave comes to the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.
Guide Lessons for March
LESSON I
Practical Religion and Testimony
(First Week in March)
PRACTICAL RELIGION AND TESTIMONY
Honesty :
Honesty is honor in action. Honesty is righteousness on the
wing. It is applied conscience. When Cervantes said, "Honesty
is the best policy" he meant, it pays to be honest.
First, with Ourselves:
Honesty with one's self means being true to one's conscience ;
and the highest trueness to one's conscience is to jkeep it in the
light of the best obtainable light. A thoughtful conscience means
an elevated conscience.
One of Dr. Maeser's favorite admonitions to his students was :
"Be your self, your better self," meaning, be honest with your
higher impulses, your loftier thoughts, your nobler ambitions.
None but the depraved lack the desire to be honest; and as
we are loth to believe in utter depravity, it is difficult for us to
think of any one who has lost all desire to be honest. Honest
desires are the pearls of great price ; in the ethical world, they are
insurance investments against moral bankruptcy. The desire for
self-honesty is the "Thirst after righteousness" spoken of in the
beatitudes, Matthew 5 :6.
Desires for self honesty, thoughts of self honesty, determina-
tions of self -honesty, act and react on each other, giving to and
getting from each other the power that makes for the happiness
of being honest.
The joy of inner honesty is close kin to the strength of inner
cleanliness ; they stand together, desiring only that which is lawful.
Have you felt that hunger for goodness,
Craving the Millenium here ?
A yearning to be full of kindness,
With never a hope nor a fear?
Have you burned with a thirst to be honest,
Just for Honesty's sake?
Have you longed for a thrill that is present
When give is better than take?
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 43
If you have, there is started within you
The kingdom for action to build,
Where the hunger and thirst will continue
And your soul be constantly thrilled.
Even thrilled with joy of desiring
To do and be all that you should;
Filled full of the high power of loving
The being and doing of good.
Thus filled with a thrill, you're fulfilling
The promise He made on the mount ;
Living the life most worth living
And counting for most you can count.
If it pays to be happy, then inner honesty pays. "He who
deceives others is a knave, but he who deceives himself is a fool."
— Maeser.
Honesty in the Outer World :
Honesty in the outer world means honesty with others, so-
ciological honesty.
Honesty in communication creates lasting confidence, without
which all productive and exchange industries would go to the wall.
Crooked characters, like counterfeit coins, owe their existence
to the honesty there is in society. It is the existence of the true
that makes the false of even apparent value.
"Truth crushed to earth will rise again; the eternal years of
God are hers; while error, wounded, writhes in pain, and dies
amid her worshipers. "
Honesty makes friends ; fraud finds only fellow conspirators.
Honesty creates wealth ; fraud filches it. Honesty merits power ;
fraud usurps it. Honesty with others gives us lasting values of
confidence, friendship, and reciprocal helpfulness. These create
opportunities for the making of an honest living, in which no
financial obligations are assumed without expectation of meeting
them, no promises made without determination to keep them.
It is no disgrace to accept aid in hours of need, but it is
dishonest to borrow or run bills with no intention of keeping
faith with those who trust us. The thought of "looking the
whole world in the face" as Longfellow's Village Blacksmith did,
is almost thrilling to one who senses the paying value of honesty
with others.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul — Matt. 16:26. Dishonesty with others
is social soul sickness; discovered, dishonesty is death to the
social soul.
44 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Honesty in the Upper World — Honest with the Lord — Theological
Honesty :
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but the prayer of the upright is his delight" — Prov. 15:8.
Who are upright? The honest — those who pray for the poor
and pay their fast offerings ; those who pray for the building up
of Zion and pay their tithing ; those who pray for the missionaries
and contribute to their support; those who pray for forgiveness
and forgive others ; those who pray for health and keep the Word
of Wisdom; those who pray for the divine support of leaders
and stand for their counsel and advice.
Honesty of desires, of belief, of works, has some compesation
in the theological field ; but the greater returns come from honesty
of action. Absolute honesty is to be looked for in ideals, in
angels, in deities ; and the expectation of receiving rewards without
merit in the upper world seems sufficiently inconsistent to check
any insincere approach to the Lord ; and we are led to the conclu-
sion that ordinances without honesty avail nothing.
Honesty in Spots:
The conduct of individuals and groups points to a nearly uni-
versal spottedness of honesty.
Many who are truthful in general are specifically untruthful
in the matter of tax assessments. Persons who would be horrified at
the thought of stealing, have a conscience that will permit them to
fill the craws of their chickens from their neighbor's garden. And
not infrequently there are people who "would not for the world"
directly rob their neighbors of sleep, but will keep a dog that makes
the night uncomfortable to slumber seekers.
That man was an exceptional one who, at the close of the
harvest season, called a boy to him and said, "'Jesse, you have
more than earned your monthly wages, you have done a full man's
work ; I will pay you a man's wages."
Grades of Honesty :
There are three grades of honesty:
First and highest, the free agency honesty. This grade comes
from persons who need only the opportunity to be honest ; they are
the honest in heart.
Second grade — the fear-prompted honesty. This grade comes
from those who are honest in order to escape penalty ; to them the
evil is not in the dishonesty but in its being found out.
Third grade — forced honesty. This grade comes from charac-
ters who are deprived of the opportunity of being other than honest.
Only first grade honesty has in it the germ of honesty with
self.
Is honesty increasing?
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 45
On the whole, the world is becoming more honest, and better ;
like individuals, however, it is honest in spots.
Education and experience have led to a higher appreciation
of honesty as something that pays, in many ways — pays, in fact,
in all of the long ways. In every line of life dishonesty is being
viewed more and more as not only wrong but as sheer folly. Clearer
and clearer it becomes that to be honest with the Lord is to be
honest with one's fellow men ; and to be honest with others is to
be true to one's self — one's better self.
Clearer and clearer in the handwriting of progress is seen
the truth, It Pays to be Honest.
Thirteen Things that make for improvement in honesty :
1. Submitting to honest self examination.
2. Cultivating desires for honesty.
3. Making honest confessions to self.
4. Entertaining thoughts of honesty.
5. Encouraging ambition to be honest.
6. Teaching honesty.
7. Acting honesty.
8. Fighting fraud (a) within (b) without.
9. Demanding reform (a) individual (b) group.
10. Trying to be what one would have the many become.
11. Insisting on respect for property rights in the, home.
12. Requiring children to give an account of things brought
home.
13. Trying to find the owner of things found.
Questions and Problems
1. Wherein are secret prayer and self examination closely
related ?
2. What are the fruits of inner honesty?
3. When is one making an honest living?
4. Explain being "honest in spots."
5. Show that dishonest enterprises are dependent upon
honesty.
6. Discuss : Honesty does not require that truth be told re-
gardless of circumstances ; nor that the whole truth be always told.
7. Why are April Fool untruths not dishonest ?
8. Does honesty forbid a respectful reception of an unwel-
come caller? Give reasons for answer.
9. Discuss: Discovered dishonesty is death to the "social
soul."
10. Name some of the best fruits of (a) self honesty; (b)
social honesty.
11. Quote the beatitude that promises pay for inner honesty.
12. Where must we look for absolute honesty?
46 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
13. Who are the members of our Church whose prayers are
a "delight unto the Lord ?"
14. Mention ten things that make for the increase of honesty.
15. Discuss the value of respecting property rights in the
home; of the custom of requiring children to tell where they get
things that they bring home; of insisting upon an effort to find the
owner of "found things."
16. Discuss numbers eleven and twelve in this lesson as
things that make for training in honesty.
17. Is honesty increasing? See Article "Why Education?"
by President Frank S. Harris and N. I. Butt, Deseret News,
Saturday, November 24, 1928.
LESSON II
Work and Business
(Second Week in March)
Teachers' Topic for March — Activities of the Relief Society.
Why the Lessons in Practical Religion and Testimony
I. To emphasize the importance of an every-day salvation as
not only a preparation for, but as a part of, eternal life.
II. To bring together material from the fields of revelation, hu-
man experience, and thought, for study and discussion.
III. To indicate how ideas and inspiration may be made over into
character through the formation of habits.
IV. To stimulate interest in self-examination with a view toward
self-improvement.
V. To inspire a spirit of "weary not" in the work of lifting
society to higher levels of life.
VI. The lessons show the indispensability of, and point the way
toward :
a. The conscientious life.
b. The clean life.
c. The honest life.
d. The temperate life.
e. The industrious life.
f. The loyal life —
as essential parts of the abundant spiritual life.
VII. The plentitude of material in the lessons provides for study,
sufficient to interest the most investigative students, and this
plentitude suggests the propriety of being sufficiently selec-
tive in the presentation and discussion to guard against
trenching upon the time for testimonies.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 47
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in March)
Biography
JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE
James Matthew Barrie, British novelist and dramatist, was
born at Kirriemuir, a small village in Forfarshire, on the 9th
day of May, 1860. He received his education in the Dumfries
Academy and the Edinburgh University. From Mrs. Barrie's
quasi-autobiography, Margaret Ogilvy, we learn that before he went
to school he wrote tales in the garret ; and at Edinburgh he wrote
the greater part of a three-volume novel. A publisher presumed
this novel was the work of a clever lady and offered to publish it
for one hundred pounds, but the offer was not accepted. Mr.
Barrie found his way to literature through journalism. In Feb-
ruary, 1883, he became leader-writer on the Nottingham Journal.
He contributed a number of special articles and notes to this jour-
nal and thus obtained training and provided an opening for his
personal talent. Soon after this he began submitting articles to
London editors. In 1884 his article on "An Auld Licht Community"
was printed in the St. lames Gazette. More Auld Licht "Idylls"
followed and in 1885 Mr. Barrie moved to London, where he
continued to write for the St. lames Gazette, The Home Clinic and
the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. His first book, Better Dead, was
published in 1887 and was followed by Auld Licht Idylls in 1888,
which was a collection of Scott's village sketches, portraying the
life and humors, of his native village. In 1889 A Window in
Thurms was published, which, together with the Idylls, gave in full
measure Mr. Barrie's gift of humanity, humor and pathos, with
abundant evidence also of his original and vernacular style
and the whimsical turn of his wit. In 1891 his first long novel,
The Little Minister, appeared. In 1894 he published Margaret
Ogilvy, which was based on the life of his mother and of his own
relations with her, tenderly and beautifully written. Sentimental
Tommy appeared the following year, and was completed by a
sequel, Tommy and Grizel, published in 1900. In 1902 The Little
White Bird was published. In this book he portrays his tenderness
for child-life and gives full play to his whimsical invention. It
contained the episode of Peter Pan, which suggested the play of
that name. During this time Mr. Barrie had been developing his
talent as a dramatist. In 1892 his play .Walker, London, appeared
with much success. In 1893 he wrote, with Sir Conan Doyle,
a play called lame Annie. In this year he married Miss Ansell, who
48 .RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
had acted in Walker, London. He found much success in The
Professor's Love Story in 1895 ; and in 1897 his dramatized
version of The Little Minister probably confirmed his popularity
as a dramatist. Mr. Barrie, who had been a struggling journalist
of the early nineties, had by this time become one of the most pros-
perous literary men of the day. In 1903 three of his plays held
the stage ; and in 1904 Peter Pan, a poetical pantomime in which the
author portrays some of his most characteristic and permanently
delightful gifts, was produced. In 1905, Alice, Sit by the Fire, and
in 1908, What Every Woman Knows, were added to his list. As
a dramatist Mr. Barrie brought a method that was wholly uncon-
ventional and a sigularly fresh fancy, which contained also a
shrewd touch of satirical humor. In literature with the simplest
materials he achieved an almost unendurable pathos, never forced,
but always salted with humor. Robert Louis Stevenson said of him,
"there was genius in him, but there was a journalist on his elbow."
What Every Woman Knows, By James Matthew Barrie
In Barrie's play of four acts What Every Woman Knows,
we are first introduced into the home of the Wylie family con-
sisting of the father, two sons and a daughter. They are pro-
prietors of the local granite quarry. This has not always been
true, for Alick, the father, was throughout his working days
a mason in this same quarry. It is the brother David who has
raised them to this position. They have one sister, Maggie.
Maggie admits that she is twenty-six years of age and is as yet
unmarried.
The play opens with her brothers David and James jok-
ing about marriage, for they are both bachelors. A note in the
play says you do not know David and James until you know
how they love their sister Maggie. They agree that she has
set her heart on love, "not merely love," they say, "but one of
those grand noble loves ; for though Maggie is undersized she
has a passion for romance."
David addresses his father by asking, "did you tell her
who got the minister of Galashiels?"
Alick : "I had to tell her and then I bought her a sealskin
muff and I just slipped it into her hands and came away."
James says: "Of course, to be fair to the man, he never
pretended he wanted her."
Then David says: "None of them wants her. I was
thinking, father, I would buy her that gold watch and chain
in Snibby's window. She hankers after it."
James, slapping his pocket : "You're too late, David. Fve
got them for her."
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 49
Then David says : "It is ill done for the minister. Many
a pound of steak has that man had in this house."
The brothers have made up their minds not to retire at
their usual hour, which is 10:00 p. m. They know that Mag-
gie will be in presently to remind them that it is bed-time.
They think it wise not to let her know why they are sitting up,
but when she comes in they are not artful enough to keep the
truth from her. They tell her they have been told by the police
that a man has entered the window of the house several times
and they fear that he is after their silver-plate. Under the cir-
cumstances Maggie refuses to go to bed. In a short time
the intruder enters the rooms. He goes directly to the bookcase
where there are some five hundred volumes, takes a book from
the case saying it is just what he wants and begins to read.
They recognize the man who came in through the window as
John Shand, a young student who is trying very hard to make
his way through the University of Edinburgh. The brothers
conceive the idea of offering three hundred pounds if at the
end of his college career he will consent to marry Maggie.
They make it very clear to Shand that if Maggie should make
up her mind to marry in the meantime that she is at perfect lib-
erty to do so, but they insist on Shand standing by the con-
tract. Maggie shows some embarrassment at this proposition
and tells Shand in a half-hearted way that she hopes that he will
not feel bound if he really cares for somebody else. In the
course of their conversation it develops that John is twenty-
one and Maggie's brothers say she is twenty-five. Pretending
to a stricter honesty than that of her brothers she says she is
twenty-six. Later, when John is gone, one of her brothers says
he thought she was twenty-seven.
In the beginning of the second act we find John waiting
for the results of the election, for he is running for Parliament,
a fact which indicates that he has finished his education. Mag-
gie is all aflutter. Finally they have the election returns. John
announces that he is elected by a majority of 244. "I'm John
Shand, M. P." he exultantly exclaims. Maggie, weak in her
limbs says: "You're sure you're in, John?" John says: "Ma-
jority, 244. I've beaten the baronet. I've done it, Maggie,
and not a soul to help me ; I've done it alone." Alick asks :
"What are you doing, Maggie?" She replies: "This is the
House of Commons, and I'm John, catching the Speaker's eye
for the first time. Do you see a queer little old wifie sitting
up there in the Ladies' Gallery? That's me. Mr. Speaker, sir,
I rise to make my historic maiden speech."
Then a conversation ensues in which Maggie shows that
she is very eager for the marriage to take place. She reminds
John that she has waited a year longer than the contract called
50 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
for. She tells him she would like to release him from it but she
has not the strength. However, she takes the contract and
tears it in two, but John feels that he is morally obligated to
marry her despite the fact that she insists that she has no
charm and consequently does not hold it against him at all
that he is reluctant. Finally she tells him that if he only had
a sense of humor it might all be different. John says : "I can-
not call to mind, Maggie, ever having laughed in my life."
Maggie : "You have no sense of humor."
John: "Not a spark."
Maggie : "I have sometimes thought if you had it might
make you fonder of me. I think one needs a sense of humor
to be fond of me."
John does succeed in his public life. His addresses attract
a good deal of attention. People say there is a unique quality
about them and they actually coined a word which they called
"Shandisms," to describe them. As he continues there are
some of his acquaintances more analytical than others who
suspect that John's work is not solely his. The bill to be intro-
duced into Parliament relative to the rights of British women
is being generally discussed by John's friends and acquaint-
ances. Finally the Comtesse says to Maggie : "There is some-
one who helps out Mr. Shand."
Maggie says : "There is not."
Then, comes the reply, "It is a woman and it is you."
Maggie says : "I help in the little things."
Comtesse : "The little things ! You are the pin he picked
up and that is to make his fortune. And now, what I want
to know is whether your John is aware that you help at all.
John enters at that moment and provides the answer.
He says : "Maggie ! Comtesse ! I've done it again."
The Comtesse appreciates the fact that Maggie does much
of the work and addresses her saying: "You divine little wife.
He cannot be worthy of it. No man could be worthy of it.
Why do you do it?"
Maggie shivers a little and replies : "He loves to think
he does it all himself. That is the way of men. I am six
years older than he is. I am plain and I have no charm. I
should not have let him marry me. I am trying to make up
for it."
As John matures we are told that much has come to him
that we had almost despaired of his acquiring, including nearly
all the divine attributes except the sense of humor.
Now there develops a love affair between Sybil and John.
Sybil has charm but she lacks the sense of humor. Maggie
is conscious of the situation and offers to release her husband.
Maggie's brother David says to John: "How long has this
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 51
been going on?" referring to the flirtation between Sybil and
John.
John : "If you mean how long has that lady been the
apple of my eye, I am not sure, but I never told her of it
until today."
Maggie, who is knitting, looks thoughtful. She says: "I
think it was not until about six months ago, John, that she
began to be very dear to you. At first you liked to bring in her
name when talking to me, so that I could tell you of any little
things I might have heard she was doing; but afterward, as she
became more and more to you, you avoided mentioning her
name."
David finally says : "Well, we won't go into the matter.
The thing to be thankful for is that it is ended."
Alick, the father, who is looking very old, replies : "Yes,
yes, that is the great thing."
But John says : "All useless, sir. It is not ended. It is
to go on."
James, the brother, says : "Man, I could knock you down."
Maggie : "There is not one of you could knock John
down."
David exasperated says : "Quiet, Maggie. One would
think you were taking his part."
Maggie replies : "Do you expect me to desert him at the
very moment he needs me most?"
David : "I suppose you understand you will have to resign
your seat?" (Having reference of course to the seat in Par-
liament.)
John : "I am mortal sorry, Maggie."
Sybil : "And I also."
Maggie soothingly : "I am sure you are, but as it cannot
be helped I see no reason why we three should not talk the
matter over in a practical way."
John : "If you can understand, Maggie, what an inspira-
tion she is to me in my work."
Sybil : "Mrs. Shand, I think of nothing else."
Maggie : "That is fine. That is as it should be."
Then they begin to plan about when Maggie should leave
them, and she says it could not well be before Wednesday as
that is the day the laundry comes home. And John says : "It is
the day the House rises. It may be my last appearance in the
House."
Maggie, sympathetically : "You love the House, don't
you, John, next to her. It is a pity you cannot wait until after
your speech at Leeds. Mr. Venables won't let you speak at
Leeds, I fear, if you leave me."
John : "What a chance it would have been, but let it go."
52 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Then they agree that the separation shall not occur for a
month, and Maggie arranges that John shall go to the cottage
of the Comtesse where he can be alone and work on his Leeds
address. John accuses her of doing this to separate them. He
says it is just a wife's trick. Then she takes up the telephone
and asks the Comtesse to arrange for Sybil to be there also.
John and Sybil are not present when she does the latter thing,
so she tells John that the Comtesse wants Sybil to be there.
Later Maggie pays a visit to the Comtesse. As soon as
she arrives she hears that there is something wrong about the
speech. She finds John depressed. John had left an outline
of his speech and Maggie has fixed it up and now hands it
to Venables whose business seems to pass on this particular
speech. When Maggie comes into contact with John and Sybil
she explains that she is ready to leave with her brothers. She
says : "You see my brothers feel they cannot be away from
their business any longer and so if it would be convenient to
you, John, I could travel with them by the night train on
Wednesday. "
John: "This is just the 21st."
Maggie : "My things are all packed. I think you will find
the house in good order, Lady Sybil. I have had the vacuum
cleaners in. I will give you the keys to the linen and the
silver-plate. I have them in that bag.
John: "Why should you be so ready to go?"
Maggie : "I promised not to stand in your way."
John hesitates and Maggie says : "Don't you love her any
more, John? Be practical."
Sybil : "At any rate I have tired of him. Oh, best to tell
the horrid truth. I am ashamed of myself. I have been
crying my eyes out over it. I thought I was such a different
kind of woman, but I am weary of him. I think him — oh, so
dull."
John : "Are you sure that is how you have come to think
of me?"
Sybil : "I am sorry, but, yes, yes, yes."
John says : "My God, it's more than I deserve."
Then a discussion ensues as to whether anybody has
ever helped John. He says : "Nobody has ever helped him."
Maggie says: "Not even Lady Sybil?"
John: "I am beginning to doubt it. It's very curious,
though, Maggie, that this speech should be disappointing."
Maggie: "It is just that Mr. Venables has not the brains
to see how good it is."
John : "That must be it. No, Maggie, it is not. Somehow
I seem to have lost my neat way of saying things."
Maggie, almost cooing : "It will come back to you."
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 53
John, forlorn : "If you knew how I've tried."
Maggie : "Maybe if you were to try again and I will just
come and sit beside you and knit. I think the click of the
needles sometimes put you in the mood."
John : "Hardly that ; and yet many a Shandism I knocked
off while you were sitting beside me knitting. I suppose it
was the quietness."
John: "Maggie!"
Maggie : "What is it, John ?"
John : "What if it was you that put those queer ideas into
my head."
Maggie: "Me?"
John : "Without your knowing it, I maan."
Maggie : "John, could it be this, that I sometimes had the
idea in a rough womanish sort of way and then you polished
it up till it came out a Shandism?"
John : "I believe you have hit it, Maggie : to think that
you may have been helping me all the time and neither of
us knew it."
Mr. Venables enters and the Comtesse says: "He wishes
to see you, Mr. Shand." And she adds : "About your speech."
John says he has heard enough about that.
The Comtesse adds : "I think it is about the second
speech."
And John in astonishment adds : "What second speech?"
Maggie says : "You had left the first draft of your speech
at home, John, and I brought it here with a few little things
I have added myself, just trifles. Things I used to suggest to
you while I was knitting; and then, if you liked any of them,
you could have polished them and turned them into something
good. And now she (meaning the Comtesse) has shown it to
Mr. Venables."
John: "As my work, Comtesse?"
Maggie says : "It is your work — nine-tenths of it."
John: "You presumed, Maggie Shand! Very well, then,
here he comes, and now we'll see to what extent you've helped
me.
Venables : "My dear fellow. My dear Shand, I congratu-
late you. Give me your hand."
John: "The speech?"
Venables : "You have improved it out of knowledge. It
is the same speech but those new touches make all the dif-
ference."
They talk the matter over and agree that John's success
is due to a combination of work. John shivers and Maggie
asks: "Why did you shiver, John?"
John : "It was at myself for saying that I could not live
54 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
with you again, and I should have been wondering how for
so long you have lived with me. And I suppose you have
forgiven me all the time and forgive me still."
Then Maggie says : "John, am I to go or are you to keep
me on? I am willing to stay because I am useful to you, if it
cannot be for a better reason."
His hand feels for her and she draws near to him.
Maggie : "It is nothing unusual I have done, John.
Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it
all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go at that. lit is our
only joke. Every woman knows that."
Problem of the Play
The problem presented in this play is that of the assistance
the wife gives the husband in his work. Her part is usually
done quietly without ostentation. There are women everywhere
in the world, companions o fmen who have achieved success, who
know with Maggie that they have been an important part of that
success, whether their husbands acknowledge it or not, and who
say with Maggie, it is our only joke. It is what every woman
knows.
Questions
1. Mention some woman or women in history who are
given credit for helping their husbands in their careers.
2. Tell the story of some woman you know personally
who has assisted her husband in his career.
3. Do you think there are still men who expect a great
deal of help from women without giving them any credit?
4. Relate the story of some man, either mentioning his
name or not as you think best, who acknowledges that his
wife has assisted or is assisting him in his life's work?
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in March)
THE CHILD-STUDY COURSE
Lesson 12. Care of Intellectually Inferior Children.
(Based on Chapter XIII, The Child: His Nature and His Needs.)
In the last lesson we considered the causes of juvenile de-
linquency. We noted there the general importance of mental
factors, especially mental deficiencies, in the causation of juvenile
delinquency.
In the present lesson we are going to look more specifically
at the causes and treatment of feeblemindedness.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR MARCH 55
The author of this chapter, Dr. Arnold Gessell, is both a physi-
cian and a psychologist. He is a very competent authority in this
field — director of the psycho-clinic for children at Yale University.
A. The Causes of Feeblemindedness'.
When they learn for the first time that defective heredity is
not the only cause of feeblemindedness, many parents are genuinely
surprised. While it is true that most cases of mental deficiency
are traced to an inherited defect in the family stock, it is also true
according to the best authorities, that from ten to fifteen per cent of
all feeblemindedness is the result of disease, injury, or some other
malevolent factor operating directly upon the fetus or the young
infant.
It is notorious that such things as (a) alcoholism of the
parents at the time of conception, or of the mother during preg-
nancy, (b) head injuries, (c) defects of nutrition, (d) whooping
cough and (e) other children's diseases, seriously interfere with
the normal development of the cerebral cortex — that outer layer
of the brain which has most 'to do with the behavior function
called intelligence.
This being the case, it follows then that in our attempt to
control feeblemindedness we must be just as much concerned (a)
adequately to care for the child during pregnancy, (b) to pre-
vent injury at birth, and (c) to avoid accident or disease during
early childhood, as we are that mentally defective adults shall be
sterilized or denied the privilege of marriage.
B. The Measurement of Intelligence:
m When the term "measurement" is used in connection with
intelligence a wrong impression is likely to be created. Unlike the
measurement of weight, or distance, for example, the measurement
of intelligence is by no means accurate. While the intelligence
test is a vast improvement over all other known methods of ap-
praising intelligence, it is, nevertheless, an imperfect device and
one that calls for skill in its use and interpretation. For instance,
the I. Q. (i. e., the test-score) assumes that the child is at his
best physically and mentally when he takes the test. In the second
place it assumes that the child fully understands what is required
of him by the test. Thirdly, it assumes that he co-operates willingly
and eagerly in the test. Finally it assumes that the only factor
operating to raise or lower his performance, and therefore his score,
is his intelligence. It will readily be seen that these assumptions
may or may not be true in actual practice.
The best method of testing intelligence now employed by insti-
tutions caring for feebleminded children, is to supplement the
results of intelligence tests by physical examination and a life-
history. ^ This life-history includes the child's developmental rec-
ord of disease, his reactions to other children, his interests, habits.
56 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
and, where school adjustment is attempted, his success or failure
in educational work.
C. The Treatment of the Feebleminded:
Medical and physical treatment of feeblemindedness, as the
author points out, is a negligible factor in the control of mental
deficiency. The real treatment is largely educational, psychological,
and social.
The elements of any state program for the care of mentally
defectives should include the following:
1. Identification.
2. Registration.
3. Special education in the public schools followed by com-
munity supervision, for the high grade defective.
. Segregation in a separate state school, for the low grade
defective.
5. Segregation in a separate state institution for the defective
delinquent.
In view of the fact that the 1929 legislature is now considering
the establishment of a state training school for mental defectives,
such a program is of vital importance to the people of Utah at this
time. Utah has the unenviable distinction of being one of only three
or four states in the Union without such facilities. Feebleminded
children in Utah must either be sent to Idaho, Colorado, Oklahoma
or some other nearby state school, or else remain at home. The in-
justice is great in either case. If these children remain at home, they
become a burden to their parents ; they are the object of ridicule
and jest in the neighborhood, and are virtually denied their right
to some kind of education. If they are committed to an out-of-
state institution, the cost of care is exorbitant, for they are
charged the special rates of the non-resident. Furthermore, parents
are unable to visit them oftener than once or twice a year because
the cost of travel is prohibitive.
Questions
1. What other factors than heredity can cause feeblemind-
edness ?
2. What is the correct definition of an "idiot," an "imbecile,"
a "moron?"
3. What are the dangers of an uncritical use of mental tests?
4. Why is it necessary early to detect and train feeblemind-
ed children?
5. What should a school curriculum for feebleminded chil-
dren include? What should be its key-note?
6. Why is Utah so backward in establishing adequate facil-
ities for its mentally handicapped children?
7. What facilities exist in your local schools for the special
treatment of dull and backward children?
Karl G. Maeser
A Biography by His Son
From affluence and social standing in aristocratic circles of
Germany to humble stations in Utah, from wealth and comfort to
poverty and actual want, from an aristocrat to a man of the com-
mon people, from a military disciplinarian to a kind and helpful
father of thousands in the world of education, and, above all, from
a skeptic and scoffer to a devout and resolute believer in, and de-
fender of, the principles of the doctrine of Jesus Christ as taught by
the Latter-day Saints, this, in brief, is the remarkable series of dis-
closures concerning a great but humble life briefly set forth in the
first book published by the Brigham Young University — Karl G.
Maeser. The book is written by his son Reinhard Maeser, now
also deceased, long a teacher in the institution founded and brought
into greatness by the faith and works of his illustrious father.
The first chapters might well be termed "The Martyrdom of
a Devoted Hero." Most of the early incidents are tragic. The
trials and disappointments of a mind cultured and comprehensive
and of a soul sensitive and conscientious ; a battle fierce and long-
drawn out against unaccustomel environments ; adverse conditions
of a new and extraordinary sort, exactly calculated to sting to the
quick the proud and sensitive soul of the German scholar called to
teach a district school in pioneer educational days in Utah, — these
are the pictures shown in the neat text of the little volume about
a big man.
The record of his missionary labors in Germany, of the offers
of his friends and family to induce him to give up the Latter-day
Saints, and come back to be one of the ornaments of German so-
ciety again — these topics form another interesting and character-
istic period of the life of Karl G. Maeser ; and upon them many a
missionary will delight to dwell.
The period of the infancy and development of the Brigham
Young Academy will be of intensive interest alike to the present
students of the Brigham Young University and to those of far
earlier years, who enjoyed the unique privilege of coming under
the instruction of this magnetic character builder and inspirer of
youth.
The final honors, which a grateful community at last show-
ered upon him, form a record that is full of fascination even to
strangers. To those who were associated with the events recorded,
the narrative tingles with a beauty and glory that is not strictly
personal to the life of Dr. Maeser, but carries one into the sacred
realms of a truly intellectual and religious atmosphere.
The book is likely to excite the dismay of the mere man of the
58 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
world, who will exclaim, "Is heaven so unkind as this to its choicest
children ?" But it will act as a challenge and stimulus to the mind
more heroic, which will get from these narratives the inspiration
to aspire and the fortitude to suffer, in order to live the higher
life, with "those immortal souls who live again in lives made better
by their presence."
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Become a Christian land in very deed,
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A Winter Scene on the Temple Block.
Frontispiece
Winter Grass Lowry Nelson ol
Tongues in Trees Maud Chegwidden 62
Responsibility of the State in Caring for
Its Children. .. .Judge Hugo B. Anderson 63
A. Report of the Care of the Feeble-Minded
in Utah 72
Sifts Claire Stewart Boyer 75
\n Appreciation of Mrs. Alpha M. Smoot
Don B. Colton 76
Editorial — The Care of the Feeble-Minded 79
Hfonor Banquet Tendered to Prest.
Clarissa Smith Williams 80
Alpha Eldredge Smoot 83
Literature Lessons 84
Purple Velvet Estella P. Reid 85
Nature's Mirror E. Cecil McGavin 92
Pioneers Lais V. Hales 93
Flashes from ihe Eternal Semaphore 95
Notes from the Field. . . .Amy Brown Lyman 96
The Storm % Amy McClure 99
Guide Lessons for April 100
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A Winter Scene on the Temple Block
Winter Grass
By Lowry Nelson
Up through the sparse, wind-drifted snow,
Sere and brown upon the winter field
Tufts of summer's grass stand, dry and old —
Lone, stark survivors of the season's yield.
And though the spears are green no more; unto
An autumn fruit fulness no more aspire,
They lend unto the somber field, a hue;
And to the solitary wind, a lyre.
Tongues in Trees
A Sonnet Sequence
First Poem to Receive Honorable Mention in the Eliza Roxey Snow
Poetry Contest
By Maud Chegwidden
The trees hear messages that come from God
Bourne by the winds He looses from His throne,
Whispered by west winds (not to trees alone)
And breathed by south winds over the green sod.
And all the leaves, thus hearing, smile and nod
Up in their tree-tops. at the wise words blown
Through space and ages, and from zone to zone
. Through haunts of men to where no foot e'er trod,
T feel the winds upon my upturned face,
I lift by arms in greeting 'neath the boughs,
And peace enfolds me in this holy place
Among the trees that constitute His house.
Ah ! surely my dull ears will learn from these
To hear God speaking in each wandering breeze.
The patient cattle come for shelter here,
And plodding horses stand with down-drooped head
Beneath the branches so divinely spread.
The sun that burns, the summer winds that sear
By these tall trees are tempered ; cool and clear
The little stream slips o'er its pebbled bed
While bough to intertwining bough is wed
And mighty trunks grow closer with each year.
Tn the green shade the little children play,
The ploughman stops to drink and lave his face,
The weary traveler starts upon his way
With strength renewed by contact with this place.
Only the birds, of all whom trees so bless,
Brown birds alone give tongue to thankfulness.
If 1 could die in beauty as these trees
That fling their golden glory to the sky,
That shower crimson on each passerby
And spread a russet carpet at his knees ;
If T could so emblazon, ere T cease,
The sad old world with glowing tint and dye
To hold enraptured every heart and eye
And give the autumn benison of peace;
If this could I, — then all my barren years,
The days of drouth, the scorching wind of scorn,
The bitter tempests and the rain of tears
Would lie forgotten, passed as yestermorn.
For well I know that death and winter bring
The miracle of sweet green buds of spring.
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vor.. XVI FEBRUARY, 1929 No. 2
Responsibility of the State in
Caring for Its Children
(Address given at Relief Society Conference, Oct. 4, 1928)
By Judge Hugo B. Anderson
I am very happy to respond to the invitation to talk to this
group on the subject which 'has been announced, for in my judg-
ment the Relief Society organization of this Church is the strongest
force for progress in matters of child welfare in the State of
Utah today ; and if there is anything I can say or do to encourage
you in the work which you are doing, I should consider it a
breach of my plain duty as a member of the Church, as well as a
citizen, if I failed to respond to that call.
The Rights of Childhood
Every state inherently has the power technically called the
police power, to make and enforce regulations for the health,
morals, safety, and general welfare of its subjects. If the state
has that power, obviously it has a corresponding duty to make
and enforce regulations for health, safety, morals, and welfare.
There are, it seems to me, certain inalienable rights of child-
hood. If I were asked off-hand to name them, I might mention
five : the right to be well-born, the right to a normal home life,
the right to health, the right to an opportunity for education
(including moral, intellectual, and spiritual education), and an
opportunity for recreation. If these are the rights of childhood,
then it is the power and also the responsibility of the state to
guarantee as far as possible these rights, also to protect them and
preserve them for childhood.
The responsibility of our state in this direction is discharged
through three general channels. Though our department of
education, through health measures under the control of a State
Board of Health, and through a great variety of other activities
commonly called welfare measures, for which we have no state
64 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
board of administration. There is no sharp line of demarcation
between educational, health and welfare work. Educational work
today is comprehending health work in the schools, also social
service work outside of school hours, vocational guidance, and
other things closely related to welfare work. Health work itself
is largely an educational problem, and welfare work in turn de-
pends largely on the educational and health forces of the com-
munity.
The Field of Welfare Work
The three, then, are inter-related, but for convenience, may be
taken as rough classifications for the administration of the state's
responsibility to its childhood. There is another reason for the
classification which places welfare work in a group by itself. The
administration of the state's education and health work is funda-
mentally for all its children, whereas the work which is commonly
termed welfare work, is concerned primarily with the special classes
—the classes which need special care, and these are roughly classi-
fied as dependents, defectives, and delinquents. In its ducational
and halth programs, our state is well m advance among the states
of the Union. We are spending proportionately, out of state reve-
nues for educational purposes, twice the average of other states in
the Union ; whereas, in the filed of welfare, in proportion to other
states, we are spending one-third of theaverage that the other states
are giving to that department.
The Field of Education
Utah has, as you know, compulsory school attendance for all
children from six to eighteen years of age. It must be obvious that
the higher the age limit is placed in compelling children to go to
school, the broader must be the school program ; for if the state, in
the exercise of its power, undertakes to compel children to go to
school, then it should be responsible for seeing that the children are
afforded the kind of training that suits their needs. It is inevitable,
therefore, with the advance of the schoolage to eighteen years, that
it would take some time for our educational system to catch up with
itself and supply children of the higher ages the kind of training
they need. In our state, if it is to carry out this duty, there must
inevitably be a service in vocational guidance and in conduct
clinics, for you can just as quickly make a child delinquent by
trying to fit him into a school which does not fit his needs as you
can by leaving him out of the school system altogether. As a
rule, delinquency first makes itself manifest in the school. It is
a responsibility of the school system, when that delinquency is
first manifest, to take whatever steps the state can take to prevent
the child from becoming a delinquent as he goes on to other
agencies in our social system. There will also be a development
in the field of visiting teachers — in the social work which attempts
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE 65
to be a go-between from the home to the school. If the state,
through its educational system, is to fulfil this responsibility to
childhood, it must enlarge its facilities so that it gives these oppor-
tunities not only to the average child but also to the child below
normal and the child above the normal.
/The Field of Health
We have, in the field of health, a splendid department in our
state. We have a system of vital statistics, which I believe stands
to the fore front among those of the states of the Union. There is
one field of health to which I wish to direct your attention because
you are more concerned with it than with any other. That
is the work which has been going on under the provisions of the
Sheppard-T'owner Act. Under its provisions there have been
established, I am told, in the State of Utah, 175 clinics where
instruction has been given in prenatal care and where nurses have
been provided for maternity cases. I am told by the State Board
of Health that this work would have been impossible without
the cooperation of the Relief Society organization through the
state, and that in the short period of five years the death rate in
maternity cases in the state of Utah has been reduced 35% —
a showing of which we may well be proud. The provisions of
the Sheppard-Towner Act will cease to function after June, 1929,
unless something is done to continue that work throughout the
country. We hear the argument that it is an unwarranted ex-
tension of federal authority to engage in this work, and that
it is a violation of states rights. Personally, that argument has
no weight with me when it is weighed with the lives of the mothers
which have been saved in five years in the state of Utah under the
provisions of that Act. There is being proposed at the present
time in Congress a bill, introduced I believe, by the representative
from Minnesota, which aims to provide a substitute for this work —
to continue it under another arrangement. The Relief Society
should make its influence felt with our representatives in Congress
if it desires that this great work in the interest of maternity and
infancy shall continue.
Care of the Dependent
In the field which we classify as the welfare field, I
want to say, first of all, that the picture is not so bright in our
state. I desire to show the great opprotunity there is still before us
in bringing that work up to the standard of the other branches of
state care of childhood. First , I suppose the Relief Society is more
concerned with dependents than with any other class. I sometimes
think that the Relief Society, as well as all other welfare agencies
engaged in relief work, fails to comprehend the relation of the
state and its subdivisions to private agencies in this field. The
state carries on this work for dependents through the county sub-
66 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
divisions. Under our law, the care of dependents is first of
all a charge on the family of the dependent — the father, mother,
grandfather, grandmother, child, grandchild, brother, or sister.
Each is chargeable with the care of a dependent in that group, and
the county may compel, by suit or otherwise, any one of that
group to care for a dependent in the group. The family is the
unit of responsibility for the care of the dependent under the law.
If the family cannot care for the dependent, then the care, under
the law, is a charge upon the county; and that obligation is so
strong that if the county does not carry it out and another agency
does, the other agency has the right to bring action against the
county for money which it has been compelled to expend for the
indigent or dependent poor within the county limits. As far as
the legal situation is concerned, the private relief agency is outside
of that work. Now it is manifest that when the Relief Society
or any other agency takes care of the indigent sick or the de-
pendent poor in the county, the county is relieved of a legal re-
sponsibility and the burden of taking care of the poor is shifted
from the taxpayer who supports the county fund to the contributor
to the private organization. Thus the private organization is using
its funds to carry out a county function, which funds it might be
using in constructive and preventive work in the community- Con-
structive or preventive work is not a charge upon the county;
under the law, the county is not required to do such work. If a
county ever does preventive work, it is only because it thinks that
by so doing it can save dollars and cents. Under the poor laws
of Queen Elizabeth, when the people of England were charged
with support of all orphans and taxed to take care of them, there
were epidemics throughout England, making great numbers of
orphans. The people soon decided that if they had to take care
of the orphans, they should do something to prevent the increase
of orphans. It was from this circumstance that the health work
of England began and has since gone on. But that was only for
the purpose of saving dollars and cents, and you cannot expect the
state or any of its subdivisions to do preventive and constructive
work unless you can demonstrate that this work will save dollars
and cents. It is the function of the private agency to devise
ways and means, to experiment in the field, to perfect methods, and
to demonstrate to the state that by doing preventive and construc-
tive work money can be saved to the community.
Who Cares for the Indigent?
If the L. D. S- Church should say to any county, "Despite
the fact that it is your legal responsibility to take care of the
poor, we want to take care of our own," there could be no objection
by the county and no objection by the taxpayer, because the
burden is taken from the taxpayer and placed on those who are
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE 67
contributing to Relief Society and Church work. The only ob-
jection that could be made would be by members of the Church
who were paying taxes and were also contributing to the care of
their dependents. That is the situation which arose in our school
system when we were duplicating Church high schools with the
high schools of the community. Now we have seen fit to stop
that duplication, to allow the civil unit to carry on its legal function,
and merely to supplement with our Church seminaries. The
same argument would induce us to place the care of dependents
.on the county, where it legally belongs, and supplement the
county work with trained service and with constructive and pre-
ventive work in our Church.
We have been taught from childhood on, and I recall hearing
it time and time again, that we have no poor and that we take
care of our own. Neither one of these statements is true. I
believe that we are allowing ourselves to be lulled to sleep on
this matter. Utterances which have become almost a part of
us and which were true when they were first made, have long
since ceased to be true because of a change in our conditions. In
Salt Lake County some time ago, an investigation was made by
private relief agencies to determine whether or not the county was
carrying out its functions in the matter of poor relief and whether
something could be done to aid it in that effort. The investigation
showed that in Salt Lake County, $105,000 was being expended
yearly for outdoor relief in addition to $50,000 under the so-called
widow's pension fund, and that the number of families assisted in
1927, exclusive of widows, was 1,176. In Salt Lake City the
preventive, constructive and investigation work in these cases was
made for the L. D. S. cases by the Relief Society, and for the non-
L. D. S. cases by the Family Service Society. The records showed
that 330 cases in Salt Lake City, out of 1,176 were being taken care
of by the L. D. S. Relief Society, 203 by the Family Service So-
ciety, leaving 643 cases to be taken care of by the Salt Lake County
staff. The county staff was wholly inadequate to do any construc-
tive or preventive work on such a number of cases. But the most
alarming thing shown by that investigation — a thing which I prom-
ised myself I would communicate to the people of my own Church
at the first opportunity — was the fact that outside of Salt Lake
City in Salt Lake County, at least 90% of the county cases claimed
membership in the L. D. S. Church. Of approximately 1,500 cases
in Salt Lake County, including widow's pension cases, 1,200 claimed
membership in the L. D. S. Church — a number out of all proportion
to the number of L. D. S. and non-L. D. S. people That was not
because our people are less fugal ; it is not because our people are
less intelligent or industrious ; it is because outside of the work
which is being done by our L D. S. Relief Society, our system of
poor relief has become antiquated. We are giving, giving, without
combining with it any effort, through trained social workers, to
68 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
prevent the necessity of giving. We are pauperizing and injuring
the recipients, acting unjustly to our own people and to the tax-
payers who are not members of our faith.
Four months ago a trained investigator was put on eighty
cases in Salt Lake County. In these four months she was able,
out of those eighty cases, to place twenty cases well on the way
to self-respect and self-support, and to make them happy about it.
That result shows what can be done by a little trained service in
connection with giving. I believe that our private relief organiza-
tion should turn its attention to this constructive and preventive
work. It should aim to secure trained service, and to place back
on the county the obligation which, under the law, is the obligation
of the country — to care for the permanently dependent and in-
digent sick.
The Widow's iPension
I want to say a word about the so-called widow's pension-
Under our law, each county is required to set up a fund for the
public support of widows who are dependent on their own efforts
for the support of their children. In counties of less than one
hundred thousand population, that fund is $10,000; in counties
of more than one hundred thousand population, the fund is
$50,000 annually. In Salt Lake County there are 310 widows on
that list, and the widows receive approximately $5 per month for
each child that they have, and no one, including the state, has ever
been able to figure out how a widow can be expected to stay at
home and take care of her children on $5 per month per child.
It simply can't be done. If the purpose of the law is to preserve
the home and keep the child in its own home (and the law has that
purpose) then the law must utterly fail of its purpose. At the
same time I might say that in the great majority of counties in
the state there is not a widow's pension fund, although the law
requires that the county commissioners set it up. If we require
a widow with a family to try to get along on $5 a month for each
child, the family finally breaks under the strain. The children
go into the Juvenile Court as a dependent and neglected family ;
they are taken from the mother and placed in institutions ; and
immediately the county, under law, is required to pay $15 a month
for the support of each child in the institution.
Is that the premium that we are going to place on home life ?
Is that the way we are to guarantee each child a normal home
life. Time and time again it has been demonstrated that a home can
care for a child better and at less expense than it can be cared for in
an institution ; and yet we grant the institution $15 for the support
of the child and expect the mother to get along with $5. If the
state is to discharge its responsibility for the care of the dependent
child and give to every child its inalienable right to a normal home
life, then I say that we must revise our conception of a. mother's
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE 69
allowance- The first point of attack, however, is to see that the
widows' allowance laws are properly administered ; for it was
found in this survey that practically half of the people who are
getting the allowance are not entitled to it. We cannot expect the
state to make larger appropriations to be distributed in this way.
We should see to it that our counties are given the trained service
they need in administering the law, and that we have a board of
welfare in the state to see that the law is uniformly applied.
Traffic in Children
In the state of Utah there are probably born each year, about
150 illegitimate children. That is away below the average for
the United States. It is about 1% of the births; whereas, in the
United States as a whole, the illegitimate births are about 4%
In these illegitimate cases, the death rate is about three times as
high as in the case of legitimate birth. The larger proportion of
these illegitimate children are born in what are known as maternity
homes. The girl naturally tries to cover her shame, goes to a
maternity home, usually away from her place of residence, and
gives birth to her child. The maternity home has the problem,
under our present system, of getting rid of the child ; and a large
part of the child-placing is done by unscrupulous persons who are
running maternity homes, and who have but one desire — to get
paid for the service they have given to the mother and to dispose
of the child- A few weeks ago a maternity hospital in Salt Lake
sold a child, which was taken into a home without any investiga-
tion by anyone who knew anything about child-placing, and with-
out any regard to what kind of treatment that child would re-
ceive ; the person taking it paid merely the expenses of the mother.
After the child was placed, the case came to the attention of a
welfare agency. The adoption proceedings were stopped and a
criminal complaint has been charged against the person who dis-
posed of the child. I mention this merely to show you the traffic
in children that is going on in our communities. Under this
maternity house system we place these illegitimate children with
less regard to where they are going than we would use in placing a
pet animal.
We have on our statute book laws for the registration and
licensing of maternity houses and of child-placing agencies. They
have never been enforced because they are placed at the present
time under the Board of Health, there being no board of welfare ;
and the Board of Health has never had an appropriation from the
legislature for carrying out the provisions of these laws. Until we
get a board of welfare, charged with the administration of these
laws, we cannot expect that they will be properly administered.
The Relief Society, through its Salt Lake office, is a licensed
child-placing agency and I will say that if you are placing children
70 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
you should find out what the requirements of the child-placing
law are and you should not do the job unless you have some-
one who can do it properly and according to law.
Needs of the Mental Hospital
A word regarding defectives and their care- In the State
Hospital at Provo, which is our only institution for defectives,
we have approximately 800 insane cases. We have in that in-
stitution two doctors ; one of them gives his entire time to the
administration of the institution and the other has some outside
practice, I believe, and gives the rest of his time to the care of
the inmates. The standard for hospital work for the insane in
the United States is one hundred fifty patients to the doctor.
You cannot expect to have proper care given to the insane unless
the staff of medical men at the Provo institution is greatly increased.
The doctors there realize that, but they say our first need is for
more room, for there are not, even at the present time, beds for the
people who are forced upon the institution. The patients are
packed in like sardines in a can. They need more room and the
state cannot discharge its responsibility to this class until they
have more room. They also need at that institution a staff of
nurses ; then they need some social workers who can help take
care of the cases that are sent out, and can keep them from going
back into unfavorable environments and getting into the same con-
ditions as they were in before, necessitating a re-commitment.
The board of the state mental hospital should be increased by the
appointment of certain civilian members. At the present time, it
consists of the governor, the state treasurer, and the state auditor
— all officials of the state- Every time a change is made in state
administration, a change is made in the board at the mental hos-
pital ; and as soon as one board becomes acquainted with the needs
of the institution and commences to make a plan for it, the board
is changed and new members come on, who have to start all over
again.
A School for the Feeble-Mi nded
There is urgent need for the segregation of the feeble-minded
from the insane. There are now at the institution 150 feeble-
minded, mostly of the lower class of feeble-minded — idiots and
imbeciles. Feeble-minded people are not hospital patients ; they
are people needing education and custodial care. It is an injustice
to the insane to place them with the feeble-minded, and an in-
justice to the feeble-minded to place them with the insane. After
viewing the field of social work in the state, the State Conference
of Social Workers, which has just completed a two-day session,
has come to the conclusion that the greatest present need is a
school for the training of the feeble-minded. As much as we
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE 71
need other things, that group came to the conclusion that the
most crying need is an institution for the feeble-minded. I am
inclined to believe the conference was right in its decision. We
have in this state at least 500 people who are in need of special
training in an institution for the feeble-minded. Where are they?
One hundred and fifty of them are at Provo. Groups of them, be-
cause they are not properly cared for, find their way into the Indus-
trial School and then into the State Prison. A few are cared for at
the Atkinson Home, and a few in the Twelfth School. We have no
place to take care of them and we are doing an injustice to these
people and an injustice to the taxpayers of our state by not seeing
that they are taken care of and given the training which will help
them to become self-sustaining and keep them out of trouble.
Problems of Delinquency
Perhaps I can say just a word about the field of delinquency.
Delinquency represents the failure of all the other work in the
community to make the child a social being; it represents failure
of the home, the school, and the church. If all these agencies
fail with him, he comes into the juvenile court. Obviously, if the
school teacher, if the parents, if the church, if the community have
failed to find out what is wrong with the boy, and have failed to
give him the thing he needs to make him a social being, we can-
not expect to get that job done and have the boy reformed and
turned back into the channels of citizenship unless someone is
handling him who is more expert than the people who have failed
with him. That is sensible isn't it? And you cannot expect to
get someone of that type to handle the child in our juvenile courts
with the appropriation of $40,000 which the legislature makes bi-
ennially for handling the juvenile court system of our state. As a
consequence, our juvenile court system is breaking down for lack of
trained personnel and for lack of things which we all know are
necessary to a juvenile court system. The courts have taken cogniz-
ance of the breaking down of our system and so have other people.
A few years ago we had a law passed that in case a child
committed a felony he should be handled, not as a person who
needed guidance and help but as a criminal, and that he could be
bound over from the juvenile to the criminal court. The courts
have said if that is so the jurisdiction of other courts is con-
current with that of the juvenile court, and therefore the child
does not need to be taken into the juvenile court. So today it is
possible for a fourteen-year-old child to be sentenced to the state
prison in accordance with our law. We are to have an expert
from the East soon to investigate our juvenile court system. We
all know what is wrong but we will not listen unless somebody
from outside comes and tells us what to do.
A Report of the Care of the
Feeble-Minded in Utah
By the Utah Society for Mental Hygiene
On page seventeen in the Bureau of Census Report on Feeble-
Minded and Epileptics in State institutions to the Department of
Commerce occurs the following statement : "There are at the
present time only four states, Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada and
Utah, that have not provided a state institution for their feeble-
minded.
Since the above mentioned report was printed at Washing-
ton in 1926, Arkansas has established state care for her feeble-
minded. Shall Utah, again, draw uncomplimentary notice in the
next census as one of three states, or perhaps the solitary state,
that lags behind in providing care and training for her most un-
fortunate residents?
Utah does provide for her insane, her deaf and dumb, and
for her blind. And the true state of our social consciousness is
not indexed by our failure to provide a state institution for the
feeble-minded; for our various civic, county, club, professional,
patriotic, and our religious groups, through their several welfare
organizations, do relieve the most pressing physical needs of the
indigent feeble-minded persons scattered over our state. There
are, however, many feeble-minded children who require custodial
care and training which no system of outdoor relief can ever pro-
vide- Such jchildren should not be permitted to wander about
the streets.
Utah Should Provide
Numerous citizens who, by their professional, social and
economic interest in our feeble-mindecj class have acquired definite
knowledge concerning them, believe that Utah, if she is to remain
in the ranks of progressive statehood, must now provide some
means by which this group can be trained to draw its own weight ;
at least in part. It has become economically urgent that all
higher grade feeble-minded children be trained to perform some
self-respecting work.
It must not be inferred that all our feeble-minded children
are indigent. Many are in the families of well-to-do citizens who
are both willing and anxious to provide the intensive training
needful in establishing habits that will make life less difficult for
their mentally handicapped children. Unable to secure this much
needed training in Utah for their children, some families have
CARE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED 73
moved to California. Others have sent their children to schools
in Colorado, in Oklahoma, and in Iowa for training. Professional
men are greatly concerned by the distress of parents who, recog-
nizing that their defective children must have training which they,
themselves, are unable to give, yet are economically unable to send
them outside the state to be trained in some form of useful
activity. There are many of these children of school age in Utah
who are not provided for.
Disastrous Experiences
Many socially disastrous experiences of neglected high-grade
feeble-minded individuals are related by social .workers who aften
contact them in some conflict with organized society. And be-
cause the particular individual concerned is neither insane, deaf
and dumb, nor blind, ;he does not draw public sympathy. His
mental blindness, which impels him to take the wrong turning,
does not show. To the average citizen the feeble-minded trans-
gressor with the mental age of eight years looks about like every-
one else. Then his physical and his social experiences may be
advanced. He looks as if he ought to have judgment. Yet he
was born without the capacity to foresee the consequences of his
own anti-social acts.
Lack of success in the school-room makes the mentally de-
fective child unhappy, restless, and frequently, delinquent. His
home life may be economically depressed. When he reaches the
limits of his capacity to learn in the class-room, and has neither a
job nor the endurance to stay in school, the truant officers may do
the only thing left for them to provide some care for the misfit —
they may turn him over to the Juvenile Court. One such boy
became a ward of the court under the following circumstances : he
was a confirmed truant with the chronological age of eleven and the
mental age of eight. His mother was a moron drug addict. No
matter how much money his industrious father earned the children
never had enough satisfying food. Various persons attempted to
do something with the family, but they would not break it up in
time to salvage the children. All the children stole whenever
hunger pressed them too savagely. The older girls, with their
mother's approval, became prostitutes. The boy already men-
tioned and his older brother became wards of the Juvenile Court,
both progressing through the Detention Home, the Industrial
jSchVDoU, the City and County jails to the Penitentiary. The
younger boy is a killer. Whenever he is hungry he holds up the
first person that crosses his path. So far, nothing but his own
poor aim has saved hfm from choosing whether he would rather
be shot himself than hanged. He has served two terms in our
prison and is now at large. Although this boy has been a ward
of the state of Utah ever since he was eleven years old, he is still
74 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
untrained to earn his living. When a small boy he liked shop
work, and might, at one time, have been trained into social and
economic usefulness.
Feeble-Minded Girls
The untrained feeble-minded girl, if pretty, soon becomes the
victim of depraved persons of both sexes. She may find work
in a factory ; but since she has had no preliminary training in
certain mechanical processes, she is not successful. It takes her
too long to learn simple movements. When she is discharged
she may find employment in the less-skilled departments of steam
laundries. The work is apt to be hard for her even there. If
she has a pretty dress, she will attend public dance halls in
company with other girls. She is certain to be "spotted." It is
not long before she becomes a sex-delinquent — a patient at the
clinics and at the county hospitals. Sometimes, before she ever
reaches the hospital, she has been employed as a mother's helper
where there are small children and has left a trail of disease
behind her- Sometimes she disappears altogether. Frequently
the least prepossessing of the feeble-minded girls give birth to
illegitimate babies, either in private homes or in public hospitals.
Though sometimes they do keep their babies, they more frequently,
for a consideration, are) persuaded to part, with them to incautious
or unscrupulous people for adoption. Even bootleggers use babies
for some particular camouflaging purposes.
Though there has been as yet no complete survey of all the
feeble-minded persons in our state, when Dr. George L. Wallace,
Director of the Committee on Mental Hygiene in the United States,
made an investigation in Utah, he reported that the state's per-
centage of feeble-minded was probably from one to one and one-
half per cent of the total population. (The average percentage
of such population throughout the United States is from one to
two per cent.) According to Doctor Wallace's estimate, there
would be about five hundred children in Utah in pressing need
of custodial care.
The high-grade feeble-minded child has an intelligence
quotient around seventy. To keep him in the school-room when
he is in need of more intensive training in the formation of right
social habits than our public schools are now prepared to give,
makes him a source of wasted taxation. Feeble-minded children
must be trained into self-support. No public school in Utah is
prepared to give the necessary twenty-four-hours-a-day training
in right social habits, or in self-supporting work to feeble-minded
children. And the recent acceptance of this fact, that while in-
telligence does limit the feeble-minded child's field, it does not
say what crops shall be grown in that field, is determining what
CARE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED 75
care progressive states are providing for their least fortunate
children.
Utah does expend moneys generously for all her children.
But the opportunities open to the definitely feeble-minded child
in our fine public schoolrooms are unsuited to his capacities. He
needs training in habits^ and in useful work.
It behooves Utah to take intelligent self-interest in this prob-
lem of providing an institution for her feeble-minded. It is not
so much a question of state pride ; the social and the economic
cost to our state of neglecting to train this class, is mounting
rapidly.
Gifts
By Claire Stewart Boyer
"Once when Fate stripped me of my velvet hopes
And made me walk barefoot through desert sands,
Wounding my feet on prickly pears of pride,
Carrying stinging fears in aching hands,
I heard the call to prayer, and in that hour,
Kneeling, I found a pitying, cloud-white flower.
Once when the siren city drank me in
And dragged me through the deepest of despair,
I wandered like a mad-man through its streets,
Then sank upon the church steps cold and bare
To summon courage for disaster's end,
The portals opened, and there stood — a friend.
Once Fortune masqueraded for my sake
And let me to its tinselled festival ;
It dazzled me with homage all unasked,
It gave me wealth and fame and love and all,
"Can God be here?" I cried, "In such a place?"
I raised my eyes and lo, God showed His face.
To those who ask it shall be given still ;
To those with faith like to a mustard seed,
Their mountains shall be moved forever hence ;
The sinner, penitent, from sin be freed ;
God gives His three eternal gifts of grace
To those who seek — a flower, a friend, His face.
An Appreciation of Mrs.
Alpha M. Smoot
Wife of Senator Reed Smoot
By Don B. Colt on
Those who attended the wonderfully impressive funeral ser-
vices of Sister Smoot will long remember the comforting remarks
made upon the occasion. As I listened, there came before me
additional thoughts of what might be said concerning her mission-
ary work' in Washington, where she lived so many years.
Many will remember the years 1903 and 1904 when the
question as to whether or not Utah could make its own choice
of a United States Senator was being fought out. Those were
momentous days for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and for all Utahns. Feeling all over the nation ran high
against the Church.
When Senator and Mrs. Smoot came to Washington, there
were few if any friends to greet them. Most people looked upon
them with scorn and almost contempt. We talk much of the
cold reception accorded our missionaries. What of this family?
What of this good woman who had left a eood home among
friends to come to live in a hostile city? Think you not that it
required courage? She faced the contumely and insults bravely.
She knew her cause was just and was therefore, "thrice armed."
No one ever heard her make apologies1 for her religion. No one
ever saw her afraid to speak boldly in its defense. She fought
courageously by the side of her husband for what she believed
to be right, undaunted and unafraid.
After Senator Smoot was finally seated, then came the
struggle for respect and recognition. It came slowly but surely.
We are glad to know she lived to see some of the honor
accorded her illustrious husband. She must have found some
satisfaction in comparing the later years of her life with her
early sojourn in Washington. She must have rejoiced in the
thought of the change from the Senator Smoot, unknown and
almost rejected, to the Senator Smoot known all over the nation
and indeed the world, and to feel that she played a part in bring-
ing about the change.
All the years of her life in Washington were spent in service
for the people of her Church and her State. For years the
little band of Church workers met in the home of Brother and
Sister Smoot. They had no other meeting place. Those who
MRS. ALPHA M. SMOOT 77
attended will always remember the sweet spirit of those meetings
and the warmth and depth of the welcome extended by the
family.
Her labors were as bread cast upon the water to return after
many days. The years have brought great changes. One cannot
help but think of those beautiful words :
"God's plan, like lilies pure and white, unfold ;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart;
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold.
And if, by faith and patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet with sandals loose may rest,
Where we shall know and understand,
I think that we shall say, 'God knew best'."
Surely Sister Smoot worked, believing "God knew the best."
Many of those who have lived in Washington will and do testify
of thq influence of this missionary service upon their lives, for
surely she was a missionary. Day by day through the years that
followed her coming, she worked for the vindication of her
people. It has come or is rapidly coming.
How times have changed ! Work and character that rest
upon the Rock of Ages will ultimately triumph. The branch
of the Church has grown in Washington until a private home
will not accommodate the members. One scarcely ever hears
now a disparaging thing said of the Latter-day Saints. They
are received everywhere. Let us not forget the services of those
who have, under God, helped to bring the change. It is mission-
ary service of the highest order.
This woman, with qualities of mind and heart of the mis-
sionary type, gave new grace and) brought new charm to social
and domestic life. People saw and were convinced they were
wrong. They had misjudged her people. A woman possessing
such qualities of mind and heart could not fail to impress others.
Senator Smoot's success has been largely built upon the foundation
of capacity, character and courage. She helped him through the
long years of struggle and now has gone to a well earned rest.
Her work and her helpfulness were appreciated by her hus-
band. Through the long weeks and months of her last illness
he tenderly watched over her and provided for her every need.
Those who have lived in Washington during that time know part
of the story of love and devotion on the part of Senator Smoot.
It has been a lesson of devotion and fidelity we shall not forget.
Faith, too, played its part. Many a prayer was offered and
answered as time and again her life was spared. It is a marvelous
story for some one yet to tell. '
Some one has expressed the thought that death is the means
by which one acquires the fulfillment of which this life is but a
78 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
prophecy. Life and death form but parts of one grand drama.
How often, as we stand by the bier of a loved one, do we ask
the question, Is death the end of our individual and conscious
being? Are all these pleasing thoughts, these ardent affections,
our glowing hopes and lofty aspirations, our capacity for love,
happiness, and knowledge, which we feel expanding — are all
these to cease at death and be buried in the grave? If this be
true, Chauncey Giles has well said, "Then man is the greatest
enigma in the universe. Compared with the possibilities of his
nature, he is a fading flower, the withering grass, the morning
cloud, the tale that is told." [But this is not true. After death
man will live again.
To the good and wise, death opens the shining portals of an
endless life, where service and love find their fullest sway. These
thoughts came to me as I stood by the bier of Sister Smoot.
Tennyson, one of England's sweetest poets, said:
Nor blame I death because he bare
The use of virtue out of earth,
I know transplated human worth
Will bloom to profit otherwhere.
Utahns in Washington feel a void in their social and re-
ligious life. Two great missionaries have labored long and faith-
fully together. One is resting.
Appreciation
On behalf of President Robison and the members of the Gen-
eral Board we wish to express appreciation for the many kindly
greetings that have reached the office during the holiday season.
We appreciate these messages of good will and peace. We are
taking this opportunity of expressing our gratitude through the
Magazine, as the number of greetings reaching our office makes it
impossible for us to respond in any other form.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Miss Alice Louise Reynolds
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Barbara Howell RichardsMrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor .....--- Alice Louise Reynold*
Manager --------- Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager ------ Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office. Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI FEBRUARY, 1929 No. 2
EDITORIAL
The Care of the Feeble-Minded
The Relief Society is pleased to note that in Governor Dern's
inaugural address made at the Capitol Building January 7, 1929,
he did not fail to mention the feeble-minded- Under a paragraph
stating that the morals of the people are influenced, not alone
by the home atmosphere but also by the community atmosphere,
Governor Dern says that a phase of governmental activity is the
care of the unfortunate and the under-privileged, including in
this paragraph the insane and feeble-minded.
This is in line with the intensive work done by the Relief
Society in its social service lessons, its fall conventions and its
present work of circulating petitions.
For many months past the social service lessons have sought
to meet the child's needs and in these lessons the child of lesser
endowments has come in for its share of consideration along with
the child that is normally situated and can receive* normal care.
The General Board members went out to conventions this
fall with a carefully prepared address covering the situation of
the mentally handicapped. The topic emphasized the care of the
feeble-minded, stating that they deserve every consideration that
can be given them for development in order that they may have
the opportunity to be part of the life into which they have been
80 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
born. The address stressed the fact that every state should
furnish adequate facilities, in buildings, equipment, as also per-
sons suitably trained to instruct these people who will become a
/part of the most complex civilization that the world has seen.
It pointed out that if the feeble-minded are not cared for accord-
ing to the best knowledge available, some of them, like all chil-
dren who lack opportunity whether classed as normal or other-
wise, will become vicious and further aggravate crime and de-
linquency, which presents one of the most terrifying of present
day problems.
The last step on the part of the Relief Society has been to
authorize the circulation of petitions, to the end that all persons
who are interested in the state's providing appropriate surround-
ings and helpful training for the feeble-minded shall have an
opportunity to indicate their interest by their signatures.
We trust that the legislature will make use of the opportunity
that lies before it by doing a much needed piece of welfare work
fo'r the State of Utah. The citizens of this state are keenly
interested in welfare work. They are thoroughly aroused to the
necessity of a legislative act which shall provide for the care of
the feeble-minded, and nothing short of such an enactment will
satisfy them. With welfare workers it is the paramount issue.
To use the words of a crusader, it is the burning cause — a cause
in which all welfare workers are crusaders. Committed by the
' nature of its work to the welfare of the unfortunate, the Relief
Society joins hand and heart with all other social organizations
in their appeal for legislative enactment that shall make adequate
and proper provision for the feeble-minded.
Honor Banquet Tendered to President
Clarissa Smith Williams
The president's suite at the Hotel Utah at noon Wednesday,
December 19, 1928, was witness of another festal occasion. Those
of us who took part naturally wondered if a more pleasant banquet
had ever been held in those historic rooms. The occasion was an
honor banquet to President Clarissa Smith Williams tendered by
the members of the General Board. As it was nigh to the Christmas
season the table decorations reflected the coming event. A center-
piece in green and red arrested and held the attention of guests
throughout the banquet. From it extended streamers of red satin
ribbon to the place card and cover of each of the guests. At each
plate was a program bearing the inscription "banquet in honor of
President Clarissa Smith Williams" and following that was a por-
trait of her with the following inscription : "Banquet in honor of
President Clarissa Smith Williams given by the General Board of
EDITORIAL 81
Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
December 19, 1928, Hotel Utah." Following this was the menu,
then the program, then the names of the members of the General
Board. Every detail of the banquet was carried forth in the same
well directed manner as characterized the decorations. The general
committee consisted of President Louise Y. Robison, her counsel-
ors, Mrs. Amy Brown Lyman and Mrs. Julia A. Child, and the
General Secretary, Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund. President Robison
and Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon were perhaps most responsible for
the outlining of the program. Their idea was to have every member
of the General Board take part and this idea was carried out to the
very letter. The guests were President Williams, her daughters
and daughters-in-law and the members of the General Board.
The decoration and entertainment committee consisted of Mrs. Amy
W. Evans, Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford, Mrs. Cora L. Bennion and
Mrs. Elise B. Alder. The printed programs were in the hands of
a committee consisting of Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund, Miss Alice L.
Reynolds and Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine.
The program was introduced by greetings from President
Louise Y. Robison, who introduced as the toastmistress of the oc-
casion Mrs. Jennie B. Knight. Mrs. Knight said that President
Williams' work made her think of the beautiful tapestry made in
France at the Gobelin factory. It took a year to make a square
yard and a number of years to complete a large piece, but when
completed the design was perfect and the tapestry outlives the
centuries. She said this work of making tapestry suggested the
work of President Williams. She has now completed her design
and is leaving her beautiful work for the future to gaze upon. She
said that along with the golden threads that had been woven into
the pattern were blue threads put there by her daughters, her blue-
birds of happiness.
A pleasing feature of the program was the music under the
direction of Mrs. Ida P. Beal. The first offering was a cello solo
by Mrs. Margaret Lyman Schreiner, accompanied by her husband
Mr. Alexander Schreiner. This was followed by a solo by Mrs.
Ida P. Beal. Both musical numbers were received enthusiastically
and were responded to by encores. An original reading by Mrs.
Annie Wells Cannon in lighter vein caused a good deal of merri-
ment among the members of the Board. It was comprehensive
enough to take in the entire Board. The toast to President Clarissa
Smith Williams by Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund had to do with Mrs.
Williams' work with national and patriotic organizations. This
was followed by responses from Mrs. Cora L. Bennion, Mrs.
Amy W. Evans, Mrs. Ethel R. Smith, Miss Alice L. Reynolds and
Mrs. Elise B. Alder. This should have been followed by a tribute
"To Mother" by a daughter of President Williams. This number
failed because the daughter expecting to make the response had
been called from the city because of illness. Then came a number
82 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of responses under the head of periods of President Williams'
Relief Society career. The Maiden 1873 to 1889 was spoken of
by Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine. The Ward Worker, Teacher, Secre-
tary, and President by Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford ; Stake President
by Mrs. Lotta P. Baxter ; General Treasurer by Mrs. Emma A.
Empey ; Counselor to General President by Miss Sarah M. Mc-
Lelland ; and General President by Mrs. Julia A. Child. These
responses all paid tribute to President Williams in the various
offices she had held. Another touch of humor was added by Mrs.
Inez K. Allen who responded to the toast "Tribulations of Presi-
dent Williams with Stake Presidents." After this came the re-
sponse of Mrs. Amy Brown Lyman under the heading "One Word
More." This proved to be a presentation to President Williams of
a white gold wristwatch which bears her name and the date of
presentation, and also the words presented by the General Board.
In her address Mrs. Lyman detailed those qualities of mind and
heart that make a leader of the first order, poise, vision, sane out-
look, confidence in one's associates, and the power to push forward
in well-directed lines. President Williams accepted the tributes
modestly, saying as she listened to what the various Board members
had to say that she thought they were talking about some woman
who lived at the north pole. She expressed her appreciation in
the pleasing manner which has been characteristic of her ex-
pressions of appreciation throughout her ministration.
Then came the feature sponsored by the entertainment com-
mittee. The red streamers had looked innocent enough all through
the banquet. No one suspected that they were more than very
tasty Christmas decorations, but under the foliage of the beautiful
centerpiece were hidden mysteries. President Robison was asked
to draw her ribbon. She did so and discovered that at the end of
it was attached a shovel, a rake and a hoe. This caused a lot of
fun as it suggested the President's enthusiasm in the beautification
and cleanup campaign. President Williams drew a little health
nurse which suggested the Clarissa Smith Williams Health Nurse
Fund. The tribute to Mrs. Lyman was featured in a little pioneer
representing the fact that Mrs. Lyman had pioneered the social
science work of the organization. A little house was drawn by
Mrs. Julia A. Child. It suggested the fact that on one of her trips
she was stranded where there were no habitations. The gift sug-
gested that if she carried the little house along with her she might
not lack for shelter. Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund's gift was an Indian
doll suggesting her interest in adult education, and Mrs. Jennie B.
Knight was presented with a blooming cyclamen. Each member
of the Board was presented with a little gift that was a reminder of
something in her daily life. The members of the Board left the
banquet with a feeling of satisfaction and gratification not only for
the able administration of President Williams, but also that they
EDITORIAL 83
had been given an opportunity of expressing their esteem and in-
terest in her and in her work.
Alpha Eldredge Smoot
In this issue of the Magazine we are publishing a tribute
by Congressman Don B. Colton to Mrs. Alpha Eldredge Smoot,
wife of Senator Reed Smoot. In her position as wife of the
Senator, Mrs. Smoot had it within her power toj make a unique
contribution to the women of the Church, and the opportunity
that was hers she did not pass by. Many persons have wondered
how Senator and Mrs. Smoot, with their responsibilities and
multiplicity of duties, could manage to take into their home the
great number of people they did. We recall that an unusually
large number of the members of the General Board of the Relief
Society have visited Washington to attend sessions of the National
Council and of the International Council of Women. On these
occasions as' on other visits of a private nature, our representa-
tives have either been cared for in the home or otherwise enter-
tained in the most cordial manner.
Your editor has several times had the opportunity to visit
the city of Washington ; on all such occasions we have had the
most cordial treatment from Senator and Mrs. Smoot. Particu-
larly were we appreciative1 in 1916 when trying to push forward
the Federal Suffrage amendment. We could not help noting
the fact that in some instances the Senators and their wives from
some other states were, not S0| cordial, and several times women
from other states remarked when they observed the attention that
we were accorded that it was not so in their case. We appreciated
the courtesy extended ; it made our visit delightful at the time
and is now a precious memory.
So much for Mrs. Smoot as hostess. We now turn to the
phase of her life emphasized in Congressman Colton's tribute,
that of being put in a position when she first went to Washington
where the prejudice and the ill-will which many people carry for a
religion that is unpopular, was visited upon her head. Frequently,
when she went on to the street, insinuating and disagreeable
remarks were made that must have been very trying to her. It
was undoubtedly an entirely new experience to her, born as she
was in a family highly respected and married into a family greatly
beloved in the community where she made her home. Mrs. Smoot
bore these insults, for they can hardly be termed by any other
name, bravely, and when the hour came that her husband's strength
was demonstrated and he became recognized as one of the most
capable members of the United States senate, she was then not able
to take advantage of the full measure of his success in a social way,
because of her? impaired health.
84 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
In the particulars indicated, her life has been just a little
different from that of other women in the Church ; so that there
is about her work a feature that is unique. She certainly pio-
neered in such a way that any other Senator's wife who follows her
will not have to meet the unpleasant situations she met. Pio-
neering in the spiritual realm is just as important for progress
as pioneering in the material realm. With deepest feelings of grati-
tude we pay this tribue to her and we know that women all over
the Church will be moved by this same feeling of gratitude for
what she has done on their behalf.
Literature Lessons
For a rather lengthy period the Relief Society has been
studying poetry, so that class leaders are familiar with the way
to present a lesson in poetry. Now that we have turned to another
form of literature, certain questions asking how we intend that
the lessons shall be presented have come into the office.
We are sure that many of our class leaders have had expe-
rience in schools where dramas are presented ; in such instances
they will be more or less familiar with the method. For those
who have never belonged to groups of any sort where dramas
were reviewed, we make a few suggestions, which we trust will
prove helpful-
In the first place there is no thought of having these plays
dramatized. To attempt it would, in most instances, mean failure-
In the next place we wish to make clear that it is not necessary
to have a dramatic reader. Anybody who can read intelligently
can do the work. Drama is very much easier for many people to
read than poetry, consequently it ought not to be difficult. We
have told you what we do not wish you to do ; we shall now try
to tell you what we should like you to strive to do. Our idea is
to have someone tell the story of the drama in an interesting way.
Then, after the story is told, we wish to have the problem dis-
cussed. We should like our readers to recognize that our modern
playwrights, even those who^ire as great as Galsworthy, Shaw,
and Barrie, are interested in the same social problems as Relief
Society workers and social workers the world over are interested
in. Also that when writing plays they make use of the same
material as social workers constantly come in contact with while
at work, in every day life. In other words, we would like our
Relief Society members to recognize that there is a correlation
between literature and life ; that the person who writes is attempt-
ing to present the grave social problems of our civilization in the
hope that social workers in the field may be able to do some-
thing towards solving them-
Purple Velvet
By Estella P. Rick
Miss Ames, spinster, took a last look at her monthly pay
check before she clasped shut her flat leather hand bag of a style
long since obsolete ; drew on her mended kid gloves ; picked np a
"National" mail order catalogue; nodded a good-night to the
principal; and left the building where for twelve years she had
been Allie Ames, primary teacher.
Purple shadows lay across the mountains, and a faint, haunt-
ing perfume drifted through the stillness.
"Spring!" she said softly, "spring, and my dream coming
true." I
Her .heart was singing as she went through the soft Aprili
twilight, though no one would have suspected it from the tight,
thin-lipped expression of her mouth that the years had made as
habitual as the dingy brown dresses she wore.
Twelve years is a long time for a dream to remain unchanged.
If it does not come into its fulfillment, it fades into a half-forgotten
memory, or is itself outgrown by its creator.
None of these things had happened to Allie Ames' dream.
It still lived just as she had put it away when her father's mantel
of provider had dropped on her frail shoulders.
She had been all ready then to buy the purple velvet dress.
In it, like a butterfly newly awakened from its chrysalis, she would
close the door to her drab girlhood. The subtle softness of the
velvet, its shimmering richness, would add the thing that her
personality lacked. The slenderness and whiteness of her hands
would be accentuated against its background. In it she could
laugh out gaily without feeling self-conscious. In it she could
hold her head up proudly. She had it all planned — the very cut of
it. Her first pay check would be due on October 16th, and on
October 10th her father died.
She took up the burden that he had laid down, and the purple
velvet dress was relegated to a part of her mind that has nothing
to do with the paying of! of a four thousand dollar mortgage and
caring for an invalid mother.
Eight years later death simplified her financial problems but
left her bitterly lonely. Her mother, too, was gone.
Twice since then she had seen her way open to the fulfillment
of her dreams. Twice the gorgeous dress came floating out into her
warm, welcoming consciousness ; and twice fate had reached out
a restraining hand, once in the form of a broken le*g for herself
86 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
and once in a fire that destroyed the roof of her kitchen. The*
velvet had gone back to its waiting place.
But now the home was ifree from debt, the principal had
signed her up for another year, and out of this very month's
pay check her dream-child was to come.
"I'm going into Mrs. Darney's right now," she told herself,
"and find out just what she can make it up for."
As she turned in at the dressmaker's gate, her eye fell on a
purple pansy rising out of brown frost-bitten leaves. She smiled
whimiscally and knocked at the door.
"Land sakes, Miss Ames, I wuz just a wishin' someone would
come in. I'm a makin' cookies for the stage driver's lunch,
so I can't leave. Here, have some.
" You know," Mrs. Darney continued, "this town is goin'
to the dogs. — plumb to the dogs. What do you think has happened
now?"
She stooped to slide a ipan of cookies in the oven and Miss
Ames informed her she hadn't the faintest idea, reserving her own
thought, however, that if it were any scandal, neither she nor the
rest of the village would be long in hearing of it.
"Darn stinkas," went on the much-incensed woman — Mrs.
Darney slurred her "r's" as she did her neighbors — "the hul bunch
is a goin' straight to the devil. That Jenkens crowd of boys
went to Evanston last night to some big carnival dance, and here
it's Friday night and not one of 'em back yet.
"Bert Henley, the mail driver, says as how he saw 'em
hangin' round the pool hall when he came through Evanston
today.
"Sich goin's on ! And that Evertt Brooks as bad as any of
'em. If Ann (Athers hadn't already quit him, this sure ought to
finish him."
Miss Ames straightened up in her chair.
"Evertt isn't with them — you don't mean that?"
"Don't I? That's just what I mean."
"Poor kid."
"Poor kid, nothin'. He ought to be ashamed of hisself —
him that's had more chance than any of 'em.'
. "Why, I tell you, Miss Ames, there's not a decent fellow in
this town, and the gals is just about as bad."
Miss Ames rose hurriedly. She couldn't somehow, bring her-
self to mention her dress in this hostile influence. Plenty of time
to make arrangements for it after the material came.
"Ann Athers — you can't say anything about her," Miss Ames
flung out a bit defiantly as she opened the door.
"Well, all I can say is I hope she's different."
"Poor Mrs. Darney," thought Miss Ames a little later as she
PURPLE VELVET 87
washed up her dishes from her solitary supper. "She's never
so happy as when she's imagining the worst about people."
Though she discredited much of the dressmaker's gossip, it
still left her vaguely uneasy.
"I wish I hadn't gone into Mrs. Darney's tonight, but how
silly to let her idle talk depress me. Nothing is going to spoil
this golden day."
She watered her red geranium in the south window, hecto-
graphed the second reading lesson for Monday, corrected the third
grade spelling papers, and put a yeast cake to soak ; then, getting
out the mail order catalogue, she spent a blissful hour reading
descriptions of velvets. By eleven o'clock she had decided upon
the material for which she would send :
"No. 2560J — Width (48 inches. After months of searching
the market, we have at last secured what we believe is the finest
bargain in silk panne velvet ever offered. The illustration cannot
show and words cannot describe the beauty of this rich material.
It is the ideal fabric for discriminating buyers. Comes in black,
navy blue, and a deep purple. Yd. $7.00."
She was so deeply absorbed that the chugging of a car through
the muddy street did not rouse her from her dream. She wrote
her order, made out a twenty-eight dollar check, addressed and
sealed the envelope, and stood it upon the old-fashioned writ-
ing desk.
The clock was striking twelve when she went up the narrow
stairs to her bed room.
She stood for a moment by the window, drinking in the soft
shimmering beauty of the night.
"I can see myself coming up the path in that dress with
moonlight streaming down — I'm walking very straight — and the
narcissuses turn on their stalks to watch me as I go — oh, I know
what I'm going to do : I'm going out in that moonlight now and
walk up and down the path as I'll walk when I have my dress."
She was at the gate before she saw the shadow, indistinct
and crouching.
She ventured a little nearer. No it was not the poplar shadow,
but a man, hat over eyes, his back against her white picket fence.
"What are you doing here?" she asked through lips that
sought to be steady.
Only a thick mumble. She went a little closer then drew
back in dismay. Out of the shadow a face gathered distinctness —
a boy's face. It was Evertt Brooks.
"Oh, shut up," came the thick retort, "I don't want any
old maid preaching to me."
Tipsily he moved off down the road toward his own home.
Miss Ames' heart contracted with quick pain. Evertt who
used to bring her stiff little bouquets of marygolds and ribbon
88 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
grass ; whose chubby Jittle hands always sought teacher's in the
recess games ; Evertt, whose laughing eyes had awakened dreams
— dreams of mother mg such sons ; Evertt, who had gone away to
the Evansville High School largely through her influence with
his mother ; who had stood at the head of his class for three years
and then been called home in his last year to relieve a rheumatism-
crippled father, who didn't believe in his son's "galavantin' off fur
education nohow."
She remembered when he came home for vacation, how
hungrily she had listened to him tell of his high school days, of the
gay innocent pranks there, of the new vision of life he was gaining ;
and she thanked iGod quietly that her weak influence had helped
make it possible.
Once while talking enthusiastically of his teachers, he had
said:
"' But there's one who stands out above all the teachers I've
ever had — " Miss Ames' heart had given a great leap. What if
he should say her name. With face burning she almost prayed
he would, then as quickly hoped he wouldn't. He didn't.
"My athletic coach, Miles Bonner — he's the one that's got
under my skin. Gee, Miss Ames, it's great to affect fellows like he
does. Of course he has no idea how I feel about it ; but I almost
believe if he told me he thought I could jump over the moton,
I'd try it."
And now in less than a year the deadly environment of the
little town was getting him, smothering out his ideals, and he
was helpless to save himself.
When he first came home, she had actually hoped that he
might run in evenings and read with her ; but he didn't and now
she smiled a trifle bitterly.
"Who would spend his evenings reading with a dull old
maid when youth, even though not of his standard, is calling?"
The young people weren't bad, just aimless and idle — and
Evertt was meant for better things.
"Oh, why isn't there someone big enough to save him — some-
one he would let help him !" she almost sobbed.
"Suddenly she thought of his coach — yes, perhaps he could
help. But how could she get into communication with him.
Letter? No; she could never express herself in writing, especially
to a stranger.
Evansville was thirty miles distant over roads so muddy that
the stage driver had abondoned his car for the slower but surer
buggy locomotives. Even if she could prevail upon him to take
a passenger she couldn't afford to go. It would cost twenty
dollars for fare alone. No, it was out of the question. After
making the last payment on the house, she had only enough laid
aside to keep her till next pay day. It did not occur to her that
PURPLE VELVET 89
she might borrow. She would have rejected the idea if it had
occurred. She had carried the yoke of debt too long as it was.
But she did think of the letter on the old desk.
At that thought her face flamed with anger. It was ridiculous
to even think of it. Had she not waited twelve years already for
that velvet dress? She visioned the few dresses she had had
in those years — always dark, drab, colors chosen for service.
"No, no, no," she told herself fiercely. "I'm not my brother's
keeper."
She recounted her many sacrifices, her meagre joys. What if
Evertt had been her favorite pupil? What if she dreamed great
things for him? Could Fate — could anybody expect her to do
such a perfectly ridiculous thing? A strange man — of course she
couldn't make him understand! And if she could it was utterly
foolish to think that a word from him at a distance would out-
weight the daily and hourly environment of Evertt's home and
town.
She went slowly back to the 'house, climbed for the second
time, the narrow stairs to her bedroom and presently found herself
mechanically putting her tooth-brush, two clean handkerchiefs,
and a night dress into a worn suitcase. She carried the suitcase
down to the kitchen, packed a few sandwiches in a shoe box,
looked at her watch — it was four fifteen. She got out a black
cotton veil and wrapped it about her hat to protect it from the
splashing mud. At five o'clock she called up Bert Menley, the
stage drvier, and asked him to call for her at six. She hunted
up an old linen duster that had been her mother's ; to cover her
five-year-old coat. She was forcing herself to drink a glass of
milk when the stage 'driver whistled.
At nightfall when a jaded and steaming team drew up before
the Evans Hotel, Miss Ames got stiffly to the ground, paid
Henley ten dollars, asked him to call for her in the morning, and
went to sign her name to the register.
She was conscious of flickering smiles as she made her way
through a group of traveling men to the desk where she asked
the clerk for a moderately priced room.
From the dining room adjoining the lobby she caught a
glimpse of waving pennants and the sound of laughing voices.
"Can you direct me to Miles Bonner's residence?" she asked
the clerk when she had signed her name.
Sure mam, but if it's Miles Bonner himself you want to see,
he's in the dining room there now. The faculty of the high
school is banqueting the basket ball boys before they leave tonight
for their tour of eastern Wyoming."
A great fear swept over Miss Ames. Her task seemed so
silly and trivial now. Coach Bonner no doubt could not even
spare time to speak to her, and if he did he likely would think
90 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
she was crazy. If she only could have met him in his own home
she was sure it woulo! have been easier. But she must not give
up — she had risked too much.
Trembling she wrote on a sheet of paper:
"Coach Bonner:
"Dear sir: Can you spare me ten minutes of your time? I
have come thirty miles to see you and ask this favor only because
I believe my reason justifies it."
She signed it and asked the clerk to deliver it, and then sat
down in the dimmest corner of the lobby to wait.
"He'll see you at eleven," the clerk presently informed her.
Miss Ames ached in every muscle and nerve. If she closed
her eyes, mud-dripping wheels turned round and round and the
crack of the whip sounded and resounded till she could have
screamed.
At eleven o'clock the coach came toward her. He was a big,
broad-shouldered man. His keen gray eyes measured her from
head to foot and she became painfully aware of a dab of mud
on her skirt.
"You are Miss Ames ?"
"Yes, sir," she blushed furiously, and plunged into her busi-
ness.
He kept an eye on his watch as she talked and she could feel
he was impatient to be off. As a result her embarrassment in-
creased— she floundered for words.
"Our train is due in twenty minutes," he broke in at last,
"so you'll have to excuse me, Miss Ames. And I really think
you've over-estimated the seriousness of the boy's condition as
well as my influence on him, but I'll write him anyway."
"Oh, thank you, sir ; and please don't ever let him know that
I asked you to."
"I won't," and he was gone.
"Fool, fool," she told herself fiercely. "That's what he thinks
you are and that's what you are, too."
She felt as though she had been slapped mentally and
physically.
A fool old maid preaching around,— yes, Evertt had said it.
She stumbled up to her bedroom and without even trying to
crowd down one of the now dry sandwiches, she flung herself
across the bed.
Back in her school room five years later Miss Ames directed
the moving of books to the adjoining new building. It was the
last day of School in the old building. On Monday workmen
would begin tearing it down.
After the children had gone, Miss Ames spent a happy hour
in the new school room, drawing a calendar gay with blue birds
PURPLE VELVET 91
and daffodils. As she placed the figures in their neat little squares,
she stopped suddenly — April 15 — it was five years today she had
made her memorable journey to Evansville.
She had never known the outcome of that journey, for
within the week her aunt in Denver had died, leaving Miss Ames a
few thousand dollars with the stipulation that she remain with a
seventeen-year-old daughter until the girl was safely married.
Four years later when Miss Ames returned to resume her teach-
ing in her home town, the Brooks family had moved to Moscow,
Idaho. Well, she had done her best, foolish as it now seemed.
It was twilight when she went back to the old school room
for some pictures she had left on the walls. As she reached up
to get them, her eye fell on a spit ball clinging to one of the
frames. She smiled to herself. She could almost hear its thud
as it hit, and see a dozen pairs of mischievous eyes that had
followed it to its destination. A smudged outline of a little over-
shoe on the smoky ceiling bore silent testimony to the joy of some
small lad. It struck her suddenly that she was in the house of
death. Little empty seats stared up at her ; empty hat pegs pointed
shadowy figures; ghostly little hands clung to hers: and weird
childish voices called. :
"I'm getting old to sit and dream like this. It's really dark.
I should have been home hours ago."
But still she lingered. What dreams had she awakened in
this room — dreams that had faded into nothingness ! She leaned
out of the open window. Through the velvety dusk she could
make out the narcissuses cutting the ground with stiff little
daggers of green. She and the children had planted them by
the steps years ago. A little pine tree rose stiff and straight
from its bed of new-turned earth. Overhead the star-studded
sky stretched away to infinite spaces — the sky that covered her
boys and girls.
Two figures, a boy's and a girl's turned in at the old school
gate. Miss Ames drew back into the shadow. A board creaked
loudly but the couple were wholly oblivious to any sound save
their own voices.
The boy was saying something about signing a contract for
principalship in a high school.
A workman's bench stood directly in front of the window.
Here the couple sat down and a silence fell between them. A
drowsy breeze caught up a length of chiffon from the girl's
shoulders. Its trailing whiteness brushed softly against the boy's
face. Miss Ames felt rather than heard him draw in a long
quivering breath.
"Ann — " he stopped, chooked. His hand closed over hers
and came to rest.
"Oh, it's too perfect to spoil with my stumbling words. Can't
92 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
you see the night is saying it for me — tell me you understand.
"Yes, Evertt, I understand."
Another long silence. When the boy spoke again his voice
was so low that Miss Ames could scarcely catch it.
"There's a man I could go down on my knees to, Ann. A
man who made it possible for this to be."
"Made it possible?"
"Yes, when I lost my way he met me at the crossroads with a
lantern — a letter I mean. Some day I'll tell you all about it. I
wish Miles Bonner knew."
For several minutes after they had gone, Miss Ames stood
perfectly still. Her hands in the moonlight lay slim and white
against the brown dress. Suddenly she laughed out gayly, with-
out a trace of self-consciousness. Her head came up proudly.
"Why — why — I feel as if I were dressed in purple velvet!"
Nature's Mirror
By E. Cecil McGavin
From the snow-capped peaks on high,
Dashes the chill blast with a sigh,
Tearing from the nude, shivering trees
The few remaining lifeless leaves.
Faintly falling from the blue, the fluffy flakes
of frozen dew
Attempt to hide all life from view.
Soon a mantle white is spread,
And nature seems entombed and dead ;
Destined to appear no more
Arrayed in verdure as before.
'Ere long these lifeless forms revive
And come again with us to live
In greater beauty than before.
Enriched in glory by their sleep
The myriad gorgeous flowers peep
From every grave where seedling was entombed.
This thought sinks deep into my heart,
And when I see my friends depart
To enter Death's cold, silent door;
The vision of Nature greets my eyes :
Their sleeping dust shall yet arise
To join that spirit from the skies,
In greater glory than before.
Pioneers
The Emigrant — Johan Rojer
By Lais V. Hales
"The last trace of old Norway faded away in the distance
and the great liner with its strange freight of human destinies
steamed on across the golden evening sea as the sun dipped in the
West." Months later, as the weary emigrants looked out over
the wild, never-ending prairie, which later became the Dakotas,
they thought pi their beloved Norway with its wide fjords, its
snow-streaked mountains, and shining lakes. Here there was
nothing but an "ocean of earth, undulating in heavy-drawn waves,
on and on into the blue distance, till the last wave spent itself
somewhere beyond the sky-line." If they got lost here, no one
would ever find them. But it was too late to turn back.
Some months earlier Erik Foss, fresh from America, had
entered their little farming district with brilliant tales of this great
land of opportunity. Here people did and thought as they pleased
and money was not the crux of things. In the earth there were
neither stones nor stumps. America was a land where the earth
was so rich that you could "eat it instead of cream-porridge ;
where you sowed oats or barley and reaped sweet apples or
oranges ; where potatoes were yellow as egg yolk and tasted
like raisins." It was a country where all their dreams awaited
them as realities. '
When Erik Foss returned to America he brought with him
this little band of emigrants consisting of Morten Kvidal, with his
dream pf quick wealth and early return to Norway; Per Foil, a
thinker ; his well-bred wife Anne ; Kal Skaret and family, driven
by poverty to the border of dishonesty in Norway, but ideal
emigrants in this country, where their efforts were rewarded
if they were willing to work and trust in their own strength ; Ola
Vatne, who had run amuck and burned down the Colonel's house
and then married his only daughter Else and brought her to
America; Jo Berg, a schoolmaster, and Anton jNoreng, brother
of the sweetheart Morten had left behind. Upon these people
Erik Foss, a splendid example of the men who built up America,
banked his money and his future.
Work, work, work ! Days and months of hardship. Here in
America you must either swim or sink. Only thus was it a land
of opportunity. Kal used to work iearly Sunday morning until
the others began to stir. "No doubt the Lord could see him;
but, then, He was not so particular as one's neighbors here on
94 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
earth." Life was often very hard, for upon this plain, receding,
"always receding, there was not a single obstacle, nothing one
could shoulder aside, nothing of any kind. They could never
climb up anywhere to get a wider view, or (go down into the
shade to give their eyes a chance of looking upward." Ola
built a small mound of dirt near his home, when he sought refuge
when the prairie threatened to overpower him with its level vast-
ness. When the little sod huts appeared, things seemed better.
Then came the forest fire which tested them severely. But as the
darkness closed in on the charred prairie each one knew in his
heart that he would not even now return to the old country. The
prairie had cast upon them its charm. Then came first winter on
the prairie. As the blizzards raged about their little huts, they
re-read their letters from home and dreamed of the little, red,
yellow, and white houses of Norway, against a landscape so much
alive that it fairly danced with joy. Again they watched the
herring-boats rowing home after the night's fishing. Spring came
at last with its thousand tasks. Thus year after year of long
winters, planting and reaping followed. New emigrants came to
live near them. Together they built a little church and brought in
a parson to teach them the Word of God. Gradually they evolved
into the typical, flourishing community of early pioneering days.
Some of them fulfilled a long cherished dream and returned to
the homeland, where they found no waiting crowd on the beach
and the faces of friends sadly missing. Always they returned to
the prairie land which they had conquered and which had con-
quered them.
Thus reads Johan Bojer's great pioneer novel "The Emi-
grants." Mr. Bojer has taken several types of emigrants and
shown us the way of the prairie with each. Under its influence
Ola Vatne takes to drink while Per Foil yields to "the evil in-
toxication with which the desolate land drenches his head." To
Morten this endless expanse of /untilled soil seems to be singing
a song of the future — of big farms, of railways, of the towns which
will spring up. All his life Morten was torn with love for his
native country and the country across the sea — America. Mr.
Bojer makes us feel keenly this tragedy of the emigrant. In his
powerful way he draws for us the saga of the emigrant. Their
long pilgrimage, their fights with Indians, wild beasts, forest
fires, frost, locusts — all the trials of the pioneers he pictures for
us in such a way that when we close the Tbook we feel almost
as if we had lived the life of the pioneer.
"The Emigrants" stands high in all the requirements of good
literature. The most notable characteristic to us, however, was
its entire lack of sentimentality. It is so easy to become senti-
mental over our pioneers that it is distinctly refershing to find
a novel simply, humanly, vigorously written and without a sign
PIONEERS 95
of sentimentality. At the end, as Morten revisits Norway and con-
templates love of country, he says: "If you came back to your
native country, you wanted to leave again ; if you went away, you
longed to come back. Wherever you were, you could hear the
call of the home-land, like the note of a herdsmen's horn far
away in the hills. /You had one home out there, and one over
here, and yet you were an alien in both places. Your true abid-
ing-place was the vision of something very far off; and your
soul was like the waves, always restless, forever in motion."
Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore
A book by Leo J. Muir, of Los Angeles, formerly superin-
tendent of schools in Davis County, Utah, from the press of the
Sanders Publishing Company, is entitled "Flashes from the Eter-
nal Semaphore." The flashes are bright lights from seventy cen-
turies of human wisdom, chosen as lamps for the guidance of the
youth of our generation. Semaphores are guides, like the great
light-houses to the mariners and ships at sea, like the railroad
lights and signals that are "the silent and infallible policemen of
the road." The latest of the great highway semaphores are the
lights provided for the pilots of the airplanes that fly across the
continent — fifty miles apart, but appearing to the pilot as a narrow
path of light stretching far over prairies and mountains. The
eternal semaphore is the experience of the race, the judgment of
the ages, the voice of the past. Three things this little book aspires
to do : throw light upon youth's pathway ; impress young men
and women with the rigorous certitude of truth and principle ; and
quicken the respect of youth for the past and its contributions.
In our opinion the book lives up to its aim. Here are some
of the flashes that it throws before the pathway of youth : 1. That
the pursuit of easy things makes men weak, teaching that if we
avoid work, toil, responsibility, we shall weaken ourselves. 2.
That the only dominion is self-dominion — that "self-reverence, self-
knowledge, self-control, lead life to sovereign power." 3. That
joy dwells in the ordinary — that doing our best is our highest
enjoyment. 4. That "of thy unspoken word thou art master, but
thy spoken word is master of thee ;" 5. That "whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap," and that "he who lies down with
the dogs, arises with the fleas." 6. That eternal law, nature's way,
is as old as God, and besides it there is nothing else ; that the
highest thing in human relationships is the thing we call law, truth,
or principle.
Each of the "flashes" is shown to have many rays, which pene-
trate to the depths the darkest recesses of the human soul and illu-
mine the pathway of man, showing him the road to excellence and
how to walk in it.
Notes From the Field
By Amy Brown Lyman
The beginning of the year, the time of good resolutions,
brings to mind the fact that the annual dues are again to be paid.
The value of paying dues promptly has been demonstrated ; and
it is most gratifying to the Relief Society to note the manner in
which the sisters respond to constructive suggestions. The dues
for 1929 should be sent to the stake secretary not later than the
last of February, and the portion due to the General Board should
reach the General Secretary by March 31.
It is a matter of regret that we have not space to print all the
fine reports of Relief Society work from every quarter of the field.
We aim to make the scope as wide as possible, expressive of the
varied forms of activity claiming the attention of our organization,
practical, progressive and, as one educator has said, full of soul.
The reports of lesson work, of civic campaigns, of teachers' con-
ventions, of ward conferences, bazaars, flower shpws, health
campaigns, are all eloquent of this spirit.
During the past year, the class leaders' conventions have been
outstanding in the development of leadership and of improvement
in the fine art of teaching ; they will bear abundant fruit.
Millard Stake.
On July 17, 1928, a class leaders' convention was held in the
Fillmore ward chapel, President Hattie Partridge presiding.
'Teacher-training," "Better Methods of Teaching," and "Better
Teachers," were the subjects for discussion. At 2 p. m. depart-
mental work was held by the following groups : presidents, secre-
taries, visiting teachers, class leaders, choristers and organists,
literary, theology and social service workers. President Partridge
asked the wards to endeavor to have 100% in attendance. One
ward came up to that standard and all were represented.
North Sanpete Stake.
Xn North Sanpete stake, on August 24, 1928, the Relief
Society board conducted a class leaders' convention for workers
in all ward organizations of the stake. President Elizabeth D-
Christensen was in charge. Elder Guy C. Wilson, the principal
speaker, discussed "Better Teacher-Training, Better Qualified
teachers, and Teaching."-
Benson [Stake.
Perhaps the largest number of people to attend a convention
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 97
in Smithfield was that of the Relief Society convention of Benson
stake on August 21, 1928. By 9 a. m. the meeting was filled to
an overflow. Two sessions were held under the direction of
President Efrie A- Green. At the close of the afternoon meeting
art work was displayed in the quilt contest; each Relief Society
entered a competing quilt. The afternoon program was completed
by a rug show and a flower show.
Maricopa Stake.
This stake, on September 25, 1928, held a very successful
class leaders' and visiting teachers' convention. After the opening
exercises and roll call showing 130 present, the workers divided
into two departments. The visiting teachers, under the care of
President Mary A. Clark, considered, with discussions, subjects of
interest presented to them by stake officers and others. Class
leaders were under the immediate care of stake class directors.
Approved methods of presenting lessons were set forth by Pro-
fessor J. C (Anderson of the Mesa High School.
Tintic Stake.
The Tintic stake class leaders' convention was held on Sep-
tember 9, 1928, President Elizabeth Boswell presiding. There
were present 75 officers, teachers and members, also representatives
of the Priesthood. An address, "Adult Education," was given by
Dean L. John Nuttall of the Brigham Young University. Musical
numbers were furnished by the Eureka ward Relief Society.
Ninety were in attendance at the afternoon session, which included
Relief Society workers and members of the Priesthood. Depart-
mental work of presidents, secretaries, choristers and organists
was held. Dean Nuttall met with class leaders and members and
lectured on "The Beautification of the Home." He also demon-
strated, from the Child Study Course, the social service lesson on
"How the Child Learns to Express Himself in Language." Musical
numbers were rendered by the Mammoth and Goshen ward Relief
Societies.
Woodruff Stake.
The Woodruff stake Relief Society held class leaders' con-
vention on September 20, 1928, a splendid representation from the
different wards of the stake being present. Sixty-five were at the
morning meeting, all wards but one being represented. Professor
Guy C. Wilson, who is in charge of teacher-training for the Church,
was the principal speaker. The keynote of his address was that
the Church exists only to serve. "When effective service ceases,
the Church is dead. The Church is thoroughly wide awake to the
needs of better teaching methods- The basic law of all growth
is activity."
98
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Boise Stake.
Under the direction of the stake class leaders, an enthusiastic
group of Relief Society workers gathered for the Boise stake
class leaders* convention, which was held on September 15, 1928.
An interesting program was rendered and those present regarded
the convention a pronounced success.
Rigby Stake {Lewisville Ward).
The Lewisville ward has made a record with the visiting
teachers, having 100% in visits for seven years. In such a large
and widely scattered ward, this is an accomplishment worthy of
real pride.
Roosevelt Stake.
In the early autumn the Relief Societies of Roosevelt Stake
held a flower show- All Relief (Society sisters were interested
in this project, many exhibiting their flowers. No one else was
more anxious that her flowers should look just right than was a
Lamanite sister, 87 years old. She had planted flowers in early
spring and had carried water to them during the long, hot, dry
summer. When the September days came, she was rewarded
with splendid blooms; her efforts had not been in vain. In the
flower show she had fifteen different varieties on display. Solici-
tous that these blooms should be arranged just to her special
liking, she had traveled eighteen miles on horseback to give them
the proper arrangement. Little wonder that she was awarded the
first prize.
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 99
Reorganizations
Since the publication of the last "Notes from the Field" the
following changes have been made in stake organizations:
Carbon: Mrs- Margaret E. Marcusen has been released as
Secretary-Treasurer and Mrs. Belle John has been chosen to
succeed her.
North Sevier: Mrs. Malissa Crane was appointed Stake
President.
Pocatello : In the reorganization the following ex-officers
were sustained : Martha Pugmire, President ; Lillie Reddish, First
Counselor ; lEllen D. Walton, Second Counselor ; Gladys R. Hall,
Secretary and Treasurer.
Parowan: Reorganized, November 25, 1928. All officers
were released. Barbara M. Adams, President; Nellie M. Clark,
First Counselor ; Maude M. IDallon, Second Counselor ; Anna Ras-
mussen, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Storm
A Rondeau
By Amy McClure
The rain comes down ! My heart is sad
In tune with Pluvius, wrathful, mad !
Though lights are gleaming on my wall,
Though gay my room and warm, withal,
Gone is the peace I might have had.
Nature's black mood belongs to me !
Stormy my heart and soul must be.
And with the gale, emotions rise, —
The rain comes down !
My thoughts toss like a wind-torn sea,
Lashing in world-old tragedy.
To me the night's no mystery,
Ah ! will it kill this agony ?
The rain comes down
Guide Lessons for April
LESSON I
Practical Religion and Testimony
(First Week in April)
TEMPERANCE
Temperance is- one form of moderation. In this lesson it
shall mean the control of appetites to the extent of abstaining from
the use of things that are not good and refraining from the ex-
cessive use of things that are good.
In the realm1 of appetites or body-born desires, Temperance
is the ensign of self control. It is an advertisement of will power
well directed.
Temperance and Temper
Indulgence in that which is not good, or over-indulgence
in that which is good, injures one's disposition. Intemperance
and irritability are cause and effect, acting and reacting' on each
other.
There is ample evidence of the truth of the aphorism : "The
more intemperate, the meaner the man/' Trie stimulant temper
is decidedly disagreeable, the narcotic temper is dangerous; the
former deals out misfortunes ; the latter thrusts tragedies upon
mankind.
Temperance and Disease
Habits of temperance are, handmaids of health. They keep
the home of our spirits in a condition most favorable for us
"to live till we die."
Only by the temperate enjoyment of our appetites can we
preserve the power to enjoy them. Disease is nature's agent for
collecting indulgence debts. It is strikingly strange to what an
extend the extravagance of health-destroying indulgence is prac-
ticed with the self-illusion of an] indefinite poistponement of
pay-day.
The following is the substance of a true story :
A person whose nerves became shattered by the tea-drinking
habit sent for a specialist. He responded to the call, traveling
one hundred and five miles from Salt Lake City by buggy. He
diagnosed the case and wrote the following prescription: "Quit
drinking tea," and left. A month passed and the patient who had
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 101
been following the course of treatment to advantage, received
the following statement : Mrs. Dr. to Dr. for treatment
$2.(X>-Traveling expenses, 210 miles at $1.00 per mile, $210.00.
Total $212.00. The bill was paid and it is said that the fully re-
covered patient long afterwards remarked, "It was worth it, but I
might have gotten it much cheaper."
Very few diseases are inherited from progenitors, but
many tendencies toward break-downs are passed on from parents
to children through the intemperance of the former.
Temperance and Death
Someone has said of the temperate man, "Painlessly as a
candle burns down in its socket, so will he expire" — a millennium
prediction often being fulfilled today.
Strikingly ^llusitraitive lof the relation of temperance and
death was the testimony of President Heber J. Grant, a testifier
and pleader who will not be silenced. While telling of his mirac-
ulous delivery from death, he said in vindication of the word of
the Lord concerning those who practice the Word of Wisdom,
"The desroying angel passed md by"
Who can tell how many there are living who would now be
numbered with the dead had they not lived under the promise of
protection from being strucki down prematurely. And one may
consistently conclude that, before their time, many have gone be-
yond because of failure to. comply with the law upon which the
blessing of prolonged life is predicated.
The unknown author who wrote "Intemperance is the
Prime Minister of Death" found ample evidence of the truth-
fulness of the statement.
National Temperance
National temperance, like every other public virtue, is the
offspring of individual and family temperance. No unity can rise
above the units composing it. Attempts at national temperance
have been made by monarchial edicts from time to time, but in
outf Republic we have the call coming from the people. It is the
voice of the governed. The origin, growth, and prospects of this
unparalleled temperance movement may be glimpsed through the
following : \
"Yet this was the very thing that pushed Frances Willard
into the larger work. Her home had been a home of' total ab-
stinence. The Crusade came to Chicago. She was roused and
felt 'the call' to work. We include the story of the temperance
movement as told by Strachey :
"The Woman's Christian Temperance Crusade was one of
the most remarkable events in the surprising history of American
national issues. It was entirely unexpected and came sweeping
102 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
over the middle states with the violence of a prairie fire ; and, like
a fire, it burned away the old order of things and made room for
a new order to grow. It was, in many respects, a pathetic and
even a ridiculous Crusade. The women who joined in it were
so sheltered, and they came out with such simple-minded fervor.
But it was undoubtedly a most important moral movement, though
it is sometimes hard to remember this serious value in the face
of the simplicity of the actors.
" It began almost by accident. Dr. Dio Lewis, a traveling
lecturer from Boston, spoke in the little town of Hillsboro, Ohio,
on December 22, 1873, on the subject of "Our Girls." Being
snowbound, he was forced to spend another night there, and was
persuaded to lecture on temperance. In this lecture he suggested
that the women in the town should go to the saloon-keepers and
beg them not to sell "spirituous liquors." Something in the
audience, or in the earnestness of the lecturer, made it all seem
real and possible, so that when he called for volunteers, most of
the women present rose to their feet. From that moment nothing
could have stopped them. Timid ladies, who had never thought
of speaking in public, rosq up and prayed aloud. White-haired
women led the bands out into the streets, and the wives of the
"prominent citizens" followed them. All kinds of women joined
the Crusade; wives and mothers of drunkards; came sobbing to
the meetings. School teachers, foreigners, servants, grandmothers
who said they were "of no use except to go along and cry," rich
and poor, old and young, all marched out together singing, "Give
to the winds your fears," and going boldly into the worst places,
until the town seemed to be "given over into the1 hands of God
and the women."
" 'Thus the women of Hillsboro went out in their simplicity
to persuade the saloon-keepers "in a spirit of Christian love, and
for the sake of humanity, and their own souls' sake, to quit the
hateful, soul-destroying business ;" and thus the saloon-keepers, in
their surprise, were persuaded. One after another they signed the
pledge and closed their stores, and poured their "poison" into the
gutters, until within a week there was no more drink sold openly
in the whole town. Encouraged by this remarkable success, the
women of all the towns roundabout began to follow their example,
and the revival spread in every direction until "saloon-keepers
had been prayed out of town after town." Temperance became,
throughout the western and middle western states, a familiar sub-
ject of discussion, and the "Whiskey Power" began to be fright-
ened. Ohio and Illinois seemed to be "going dry." Pennsylvania
and even New York were swept by the revival ; and everywhere,
from Maine to Oregon, the women began to work. Day after
day they went on, tramping! from saloon to saloon. Often they
were treated politely, often they were shut out and abused ; in the
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 103
big towns they were mobbed in the streets and sometimes im-
prisoned. But whatever happened, they "forgot everything but
God," and went steadily on with their work.
" 'They sang their Crusade hymns to the John Brown battle
tunes, and began for the first time to learn something of the
depravity and wickedness of the cities in which they lived. And it
was this learning, and not the uncertain conversions they effected,
that made the Crusade an important moral movement. Its value
was not that they drove out drink and "pointed sinners to Jesus,"
for often the drink came back in a few months, and the sinners
forgot they were saved ; but the' value was this, that the women
remembered the lessons of the Crusade, and taught them to their
daughters.'
"The, Crusade being over, the women who had led it formed
an association that would give permanence to the work, which
they called the Woman's Christian Temperance Union."
Woman's work went on winning after winning was made,
culminating with the ratification of the Eighteenth amendment
to the Constitution of the United States, thus placing the temper-
ance cause under the protection of the fundamental law of our
country.
How glorious this victory was may be seen in the following :
"Prohibition was not 'put over' by political wire-pulling ; it
was the result of overwhelming public sentiment. Three-fifths
of our population were already living in 'dry' territory before the
Amendment was passed ; thirty-three of the forty-eight States
had state-wide Prohibition. Moreover, no other amendment to
the Federal Constitution was adopted by so many States (only
two failed to ratify it) or by such large majorities in* the legis-
latures. If the moral status of this amendment is questionable,
one hates to think of the moral status of some of the other
amendments! There is at present a natural wavering of public
opinion, owing to disgust at the very incomplete enforcement of
the law, to a vigorous campaign of anti-prohibition propaganda,
and to the general increase in the spirit of license following the
War. But in spite of the very considerable amount of talking
being done by opponents of the law, the elections continue to show
strong preponderance of 'dry' sentiment; and there is no doubt
that if a popular referendum were held it would sustain the law."
(The New Morality — Drake, p. 104.)
Questions and Problems
1. Discuss the statement: "Temperance is inseparable from
a trained temper."
2. Give the scripture that promises protection from the "De-
stroying Angel."
104 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
3. How is Temperance related to temper?
4. Describe the Temperance movement previous to the or-
ganization of the W. C. T. U.
5. What woman, more than any other, is entitled to be
called The Pioneer of Prohibition in the U. S. ? Give reasons
for your choice.
6. Contrast the forces behind our national temperance move-
ment and the forces now behind it.
7. What has recently happened to justify the statement that
"The Nineteenth Amendment saved the Eighteenth".
For further information see the article on Frances Willard in
the "Champions of Liberty," in the M. I. A. Manual, published in
1927-1928.
LESSON II
Work and Business
(Third Week in April)
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR APRII^-ACTIVITIES OF THE
RELIEF SOCIETY
Why the Lessons in Literature?
I. Uplift. Literature brings to us :
a. The best thoughts of the best minds.
b. The most exalted feelings of the truest hearts. Professor
Demmon of the University of Michigan used to say to
his students, "When you think all that Tennyson thought
and feel all that Tennyson felt, you may be said to read
Tennyson with full appreciation."
II. Reality. There is a correlation between literature and life-
a. Literature draws most of its material from life. Conse-
quently it is a source from which we gain much knowl-
edge of life.
b. Literature preserves the past. The Bible is a good ex-
ample of this class of literature.
III. Variety- Literature helps us to become acquainted with people
in many walks of life and with inhabitants of many climes.
a. Literature reveals us to ourselves.
b. Literature makes us acquainted with types wholly unlike
ourselves — persons with backgrounds entirely different
from our own, thus furnishing us with much interesting
material for self-study and for comparison with the aims
and hopes of others.
c. Literature brings us to know certain varieties of life with
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 105
which we may never have actual contact. It thus broadens,
deepens and immeasurably enlarges the horizon of our
lives.
IV- Style. Literature furnishes us with thoughts and emotions
written and spoken in the most effective forms.
a. Our choicest poetry is in this class. ' Much of our best
prose and choicest drama is also included-
b. ft is from this grade of literature that we obtain our
quotable passages popular with writers and speakers. For
example :
"Plato is a friend, Socrates is a friend, but truth is a
greater friend than all."
"To be able to enjoy in memory your former life is to
live twice over."
"As for the truth, it endureth, and is always strong ; it
liveth and conquereth forevermore."
"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and
a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels-
"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake
not the law of thy mother."
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth : but the right-
eous are bold as a lion."
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And
my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath
regarded the low estate of his handmaiden : for, behold, from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
"He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and
exalted them of low degree."
106 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in April)
JOHN GALSWORTHY
John Galsworthy, one of a group of brilliant British play-
wrights, was born in Coombe, Surrey, in 1867. His childhood was
passed in a home of culture ; his college education was obtained at
Oxford, where he took a degree in law. The thought of his
people was that he should follow law, but he became deeply in-
terested in his fellowmen and very much aroused over the striking
injustices of modern life; he therefore turned to literature, as law
did not prove as much to his liking. He began his literary career
with a group of novels, The Man of Property, The Country House,
and Fraternity, being among the best. In 1906, The Silver Box
was produced in London; in 1907, Joy; in 1909, Strife, and in
1910, Justice. This group of plays established his reputation as
one of the foremost writers of English drama of the day. The
Skin Game, Old English, and Loyalties, are three of his later plays
that have attracted a good deal of attention.
JUSTICE— BY JOHN GALSWORTHY
Justice opens in the law office of James and Walter How. A
young clerk by the name of iFalder has changed a check, raising it
from nine pounds to ninety. The officers have been brought in and
Mr. James and Walter How, members of the firm, are discussing
the matter. We introduce the dialogue where the officer enters-
Mr. James How says: Good morning, Mr. Cowley!
Mr. Cowley responds : Good morning.
Cokeson, an employee of the office (with stupefaction) : Good
morning.
Walter : What are you going to do ?
James : Have him in. Give me the check and the counterfoil.
Cokeson : I don't understand. I thought young Davis — •
James: We shall see.
Walter : One moment, father : have you thought it out ?
James: Call him in!
Cokeson (Rising with difficulty and opening Falder's door;
hoarsely) : Step in here a minute.
Falder (Impassively) : Yes, sir?
James (Turning to him suddenly with the check held out) :
You know this check, Falder?
Falder: No, sir.
James : Look at it. You cashed it last Friday week.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 107
Falder : Oh ! yes, sir ; that one — Davis gave it to me.
James : I know. And you gave Davis the cash ?
Falder: Yes, sir.
fljames: When Davis gave you the check was lit exactly
like this?
Falder: Yes, I think so, sir-
James: You know that Mr. Walter drew that check for
nine /pounds?
Falder: No, sir — ninety.
James: Nine, Falder.
Falder (Faintly) : I don't understand, sir.
James : The suggestion, of course, is that the check was
altered; whether by you or Davis is the question.
Falder : I— I — .
Cokeson: Take your time, take your time.
Falder (Regaining his impassivity) : Not by me, sir.
Falder makes an attempt to lay the blame on Mr. Davis,
another member of the firm, who has left on an ocean voyage.
It develops that the nought was added to the nine in the counterfoil
on Tuesday and Mr. Davis had sailed on Monday, so that it was
apparent that he had not done it.
James: In the face of the evidence presented do you still
deny that you altered both check and counterfoil ?
Falder : No, sir — no, Mr. How. I did it, sir ; I did it.
Mr. James How, the elder member of the firm, who is a keen
defender of the law, despite his son's suggestion that this is
Falder's first offense and his quotation of Shakespeare's famous
lines, "the quality of mercy is not strained," insists on Falder's
arrest. As Dectective-Sergeant Wister goes toward Falder the
latter recoils.
Falder : Oh ! no, — oh ! no !
Wister : Come, come, there's a good lad.
James : I charge him with felony-
Falder: Oh, sir! There's someone — I did it for her. Let
me be till tomorrow.
Act II gives us the court scene. We have here one of the
best court scenes in our literature. Mr. Galsworthy's training in
law is evident all through. We are introduced to Ruth, the woman
referred to by Falder at the moment of his arrest. When Ruth
visited the office and Cokeson, the clerk, tried to keep her from
Falder, she declared that it was a matter of life and death. Here
are some of the things she said to Falder at that meeting.
Ruth (In a low, hurried voice) : He's on the drink again,
Will. He tried to cut my throat last night. I came out with the
children before he was awake- I went round to you — .
Falder: I've changed my digs.
Ruth: Is it all ready for tonight?
108 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Falder: I've got the tickets. Meet me at 11:45 at the
booking office. Don't forget we're man and wife! (Looking at
her with tragic intensity) Ruth!
Ruth: You're not afraid of going, are you?
Falder: Have you got your things, and the children's?
Ruth: Had to leave them, for fear of waking Honeywill,
all but one bag. I can't gu near home again.
Falder (Wincing) : All that money gone for nothing. How
much must you have?
Ruth : Six pounds — I could do with that, I think.
Falder: Don't give away where we're going- (As if to
himself.) When I get out there I mean to forget it all.
Ruth: If you're sorry, say so. I'd sooner he killed me than
take you against your will. ,
Falder (With a queer smile) : We've got to go. I don't
care; I'll have you.
Ruth : You've just to say ; it's not too late.
Falder : It is too late. Here's seven pounds. Booking of-
fice^— 11 :45 tonight- If you weren't what you are to me, Ruth — !
Ruth : Kiss me !
(They cling together passionately, then fly apart just as
Cokeson re-enters the room. Ruth turns and goes out through the
outer office. Cokeson advances deliberately to his chair and seats
himself.)
In this conversation we get at the heart of the matter. Ruth
Honeywill is the victim of the outrages of a drunken husband
and she has told the story of her bitter life to Falder. Filled with
sympathy he makes love to her and attempts to take her away
from England where later they can become husband and wife and
he can assume the responsibility of her family. This is the con-
dition that brought about the temptation that caused Falder to
change the check. Despite the plea of his attorney Falder is
sentenced.
Falder is called up for sentence.
The Clerk : Prisoner at the bar, you stand convicted of
felony. Have you anything to say for yourself, why the Court
should not give you judgment according to law?
Falder shakes his head.
The Judge: William Falder, you have been given fair trial
and found guilty, in my opinion rightly found guilty, of forgery.
You are a clerk in a lawyer's office — that is a very serious element
in this case ; there can be no possible excuse for you on the ground
that you were not fully conversant with the nature of the crime
you were committing and the penalties that attach to it. The crime
you have committed is a very seriovjs one. I cannot feel it in
accordance with my duty to Society to exercise the powers I have
in your favor. You will go to penal servitude for three years.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 109
( Falder, who throughout the Judge's speech has looked at him
steadily, lets his head fall forward on his breast. Ruth starts up
from her seat as he is taken out by the warders. There is a bustle
in court.)
In act three we have the prison scene- Cokeson, the manag-
ing clerk, has been to the prison to visit Falder and is consider-
ably upset at what he sees. He goes to the governor, or what in
this country would be called the warden, of the prison, to make
some suggestions in relation to Falder's treatment carried forth
by the following dialogue :
Cokeson: I'm sorry to trouble you. I've been talking to
the young man.
The Governor : We have a good many here.
Cokeson : Name of Falder, forgery. ( Producing a card and
handing it to the Governor.) Firm of James and Walter How.
Well known in the law.
The Governor (Receiving the card with a faint smile) : What
do you want to see me about, sir ?
Cokeson (Suddenly seeing the prisoners at exercise) : Why!
What a sight!
The Governor : Yes, we have that privilege from here ; my
office is being done up. (Sitting down at his table) Now, please !
Cokeson (Dragging his eyes with difficulty from the window) :
I wanted to say a word with you ; I shant keep you long. (Con-
fidentially) Fact is, I oughtn't to be here by rights. His sister
came to me — he's got no father and mother — and she was in some
distress.. "My husband won't let me go and see him," she asid ;
"says he's disgraced the family. And his other sister," she said,
"is an invalid." And she asked me to come. Well, I take an
interest in him. He was our junior — I go to* the same chapel —
and I didn't like to refuse. And what I wanted to tell you was,
he seems lonely here.
The Governor : Not unnaturally.
Cokeson : I'm afraid it'll prey on my mind- I see a lot of
them about working together.
The Governor: Those are local prisoners. The convicts
serve their three months here in separate confinement, sir.
Cokeson : But we don't want to be unreasonable. He's quite
downhearted. I wanted to ask you to let him run about with
the others.
The Governor (With faint amusement) : Ring the bell —
would you, Miller? (To Cokeson) You'd like to hear what the
doctor says about him, perhaps.
The Chaplain (Ringing the bell) : You are not accustomed
to prisons, it would seem, sir.
Cokeson : No. But it's a pitiful sight. He's quite a young
fellow. I said to him: "Before a month's up," I said, "you'll
110 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
be out and about with the others ; it'll be a nice change for you."
"A month!" he said— like that!" "Come!" I said, "we mustn't
exaggerate. What's a month? Why it's nothing!" "A day," he
said, "shut up in your cell thinking and brooding as I do, it's longer
than a year outside. I can't help it," he said; "I try — but I'm
built that way, Mr. Cokeson." And he held his hand up to his
face. I. could see the tears trickling through his fingers. It
wasn't nice-
The Chaplain : He's a young man with large, rather peculiar
eyes, isn't he? Not Church of England, I think?
Cokeson : No.
The Chaplain : I know.
The Governor (To Wooder, who has come in) : Ask the
doctor to be good enough to come here for a minute. (Wooder
salutes and goes out.) Let's see, he's not married?
Cokeson: No. (Confidentially) But there's a party he's
very much attached to, not altogether com-il-fo. It's a sad story.
The Chaplain: If it wasn't for drink and women, sir, this
prison might be closed.
Cokeson (Looking at the Chaplain over his spectacles) : Ye-es,
but I wanted to tell you about that special. He had hopes they'd
have let her come and see him, but they haven't- Of course he
asked me questions. I did my best, but I couldn't tell the poor
voting fellow a lie, with him in here — seemed like hitting him.
But I'm afraid it's made him worse.
The Governor : What was this news then ?
Cokeson : Like this. The woman has a nasty, spiteful feller
for a husband, and she's left him. Fact is, she was going away
with our young friend. It's not nice — but I've looked over it.
Well, when he was put in here she said she'd earn her living
apart, and wait for him to come out. That was a great consolation
to him. But after a month she came to me — I don't know her
personally — and she said : "I can't earn the children's living, let
alone my own — I've got no friends- I'm obliged to keep out of
everybody's way, else my htisband'd get to know where I was.
I'm very much reduced," she said. And she has lost flesh. "I'll
have to go in the workhouse !" It's a painful story. I said to her :
"No," I said, "not that! I've got a wife an' family, but sooner
than you should do that I'll spare you a little my self." "Really,"
she said — she's a nice creature — "I don't like to take it from you.
I think I'd better go back to my husband." Well, I know he's a
nasty, spiteful feller — drinks — but I didn't like to persuade her
not to.
The Chaplain : Surely, no-
Cokeson: Ye-es, but I'm sorry now; it's upset the poor
young fellow dreadfully. And what I wanted to say was : He's
got his three years to serve. I want things to be pleasant for him.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 111
The Chaplain (With a touch of impatience) : The Law
hardly shares your view, I'm afraid.
Cokeson : But I can't help thinking that to shut him up
there by himself'll turn him silly. And nobody wants that, I
s'pose. I don't like to see a man cry.
The Chaplain : It's a very rare thing for them to give way
like that.
Cokeson (Looking at him — in a tone of sudden dogged hos-
tility.) I keep dogs-
The Chaplain : Indeed ?
Cokeson : Ye-es. And I say this : I wouldn't shut one of
them up all by himself, month after month, not if he'd bit me all
over.
The Chaplain : Unfortunately, the criminal is not a dog ;
lie has a sense of right and wrong.
Cokeson : But that's not the way to make him feel it.
The Chaplain : Ah ! there I'm afraid we must differ.
Cokeson: It's the same with dogs. If you treat 'em with
kindness they'll do anything for you ; but to shut 'em up alone, it
only makes 'em savage.
Trie Chaplain : Surely you should allow those who have
had a little more experience than yourself to know what is best
for prisoners.
Cokeson (Doggedly) : I know this young feller, I've watched
him for years- He's neurotic — got no stamina. His father died
of consumption. I'm thinking of his future. If he's to be kept
there shut up by himeslf, without a cat to keep him company, it'll
do him harm. I said to him : "Where do you feel it ?" "I can't
tell you, Mr. Cokeson," he said, "but sometimes I could beat my
head against the wall." It's not nice.
The Governor : This gentleman thinks the separate is telling
on Q 3007 — Falder, young thin fellow, star class. What do you
say. Doctor Clements?
The Doctor: He doesn't like it, but it's not doing him
any harm.
Cokeson : But he's told me.
The Doctor: Of course he'd say so, but we can always tell-
He's lost no weight since he's been here.
Cokeson : It's his state of mind I'm speaking of.
Trie Doctor: His mind's all right so far. He's nervous,
rather melancholy. I don't see signs of anything more. I'm
watching him carefully.
Cokeson: I'm glad to hear you say that.
The Chaplain : It's just at this period that we are able to
make some impression on them, sir. I am speaking from my
special standpoint.
112 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Cokeson : I don't want to be unpleasant, but having given
him this news, I do feel it's awkward-
The Governor : I'll make a point of seeing him today.
Cokeson : I'm much obliged to you. I thought perhaps seeing
him every day you wouldn't notice it.
The Governor: If any sign of injury to his health shows
itself, his case will be reported at once. That's fully provided for-
Cokeson : Of course, what you don't see doesn't trouble you ;
but having seen him, I don't want to have him on my mind.
The Governor : I think you may safely leave it to us, sir.
Cokeson : I thought you'd understand me. I'm a plain man —
never set myself up against authority. Nothing personal meant-
Good morning.
Trie Chaplain : Our friend seems to think that prison is a
hospital.
Cokeson (Returning suddenly with an apologetic air) :
There's just one little thing. This woman — I suppose I mustn't
ask you to let him see her. It'd be a rare treat for them both.
He's thinking about her all the time. Of course she's not his wife.
But he's quite safe in here. They're a pitiful couple- You
couldn't make an exception?
The Governor : As you say, my dear sir, I couldn't make an
exception; he won't be allowed another visit of any sort till he
goes to a convict prison.
Despite the protest made by the governor, the chaplain and
the prison doctor, Falder comes out of prison changed very much
for the worse both mentally and physically.
In act four he is given work by a man who understands con-
dition's ; but the other people learn of his past and make it so
disagreeable for him that he cannot continue. Then he finds work
again but loses it because of the difficulty of references. One day
Ruth happens on to him in the park. She is so upset at his thin,
emanciated look that she goes to his old firm and pleads with Coke-
son to try to do something for him. There is a vacancy and Cokeson
has hopes that Falder will be considered for the position. Walter,
who has always been sympathetic to Falder, says : I think we
owe him a leg up.
James : He brought it all on himself.
Walter : The doctrine of full responsibility doesn't hold in
these days.
James (Rather grimly) : You'll find it safer to hold it for
all that, my boy.
Walter : For oneself, yes — not for other people, thanks.
James : Well, I don't want to be hard.
Mr. James How has Falder come up to the office and they
talk matters over. He insists that if he is accepted again in their
law firm that he must give Ruth up. Falder says he cannot;
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 113
that it is the one thing for which he looked forward to all during
his imprisonment. He assures Mr. James and Walter How that
nothing of an immoral nature has ever occured between them-
He says that if they had money she could get a divorce and they
could be married, and he could take care of her. Mr. Walter
How says that he thinks that he can furnish the money. When
Cokeson visited Falder while he was in prison he told him that
Ruth had asked about going back to her husband. When she
entered the office this morning before Falder, Cokeson got her
story. She said that her husband treated her worse than ever;
that when he had broken her health he began mistreating her
children and as she could not stand that she left him and made
an effort to keep them by sewing. That although she worked
until midnight she only made ten shillings a week, which is equal
to $2.50 in United States money, and that, of course, would not
support her children. They were growing thin and were im-
poverished and as she had no one to turn to, her father having
been very much displeased because of her marriage to Honeywill,
her employer happened along and she accepted the situation as a
means of supporting her children. She tells Cokeson that, what-
ever else she has done, she has been able to keep her children-
While Falder is insisting that if he had the money he could
get a divorce and all would be well, there is something in the
looks of the men who surround him that makes him suddenly
aware that all is not right. Ruth promises Mr. James How that
she will leave him alone. This does not add particularly to Falder's
comfort. While Falder is getting some notion of what has hap-
pened to Ruth, Detective Wister happens in again, saying that
Falder is only on parole and that for a number of weeks he has
not made a report.
James : What do you want with him ?
Wister: He's failed to report himself this last four weeks.
Walter: How d'you mean?
Wister : Ticket-of-leave won't be up for another six months,
sir.
Walter : Has he to keep in touch with the police till then ?
Wister : We're bound to know where he sleeps every night.
I dare say we shouldn't interfere, sir, even though he hasn't re-
ported himself. But we've just heard there's a serious matter of
obtaining employment with a forged reference- What with the
two things together — we must have him.
Mr. James How does what he can to shield Falder, but Wister
takes him and Ruth faints. While they are seeking to revive
Ruth, they note Wister and Sweedle are carry ing some burden.
Wister supplies the information bv saying: He jumped. Neck's
broken.
114 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Walter : Good God !
Wfeter: He must have been mad to think he could give
me the slip like that. And what was it — just a few months!
Walter (Bitterly): Was that all?
James: What a desperate thing! (Then, in a voice unlike
his own) Run for a doctor — you ! An ambulance !
Wister goes out. On Ruth's face an expression of fear and
horror has been seen growing, as if she dared not turn towards
the voices. She now rises and steals towards them-
Walter (Turning suddenly) : Look.
The three men shrink back out of her way, one by one, into
Cokeson's room. Ruth drops on her knees by the body.
Ruth (In a whisper) : What is it? He's not breathing.
(She crouches over him.) My dear! My pretty!
In the outer office doorway the figures of men are seen
standing.
Ruth (Leaping to her feet): No! No! No, no! He's
dead! (The figures of the men shrink back.)
Cokeson (Stealing forward. In a hoarse voice) : There,
chere, poor dear woman! (At the sound behind her Ruth faces
round at him.)
Cokeson : No one'll touch him now ! Never again ! He's
safe with gentle Jesus!
The Problem of the Play
There is much irony in the title of this play. Galsworthy
calls jt "Justice," to be sure, but it is such justice as the law
provides. Galsworthy would have us recognize that legal justice
is not necessarily real justice, and he presents the case to us that
we may judge for ourselves. Relief Society workers have been
interested in the prison problem. Galsworthy presents a prison
problem here. There is a good deal of discussion today about
various phases of the law. This play is a good example of a wise
saying that has come to us out of the past, that "the letter killeth
and the spirit giveth life." Falder aimed to do a good thing but
he does it in a bad way, and those who should be his helpers
fail to extend the mercy which seemed rightly his. Ruth strives to
take care of her children until Falder returns from prison, but
meets an economic situation that makes the thing impossible,
consequently she sacrifices her honor for the sake of her children,
hut she can see no other way out- Is she wholly to blame ?
Falder when out of prison is required to furnish references in
order to obtain employment. He is unable to do so and forges a
reference. Is he solely to blame? The law is rigidly enforced
by officers who do not feel that they are justified in taking into
account motives. The result is that Falder is driven to his death
and Ruth becomes a dishonored mother. Galsworthy intends that
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 115
his audience shall sympathize with both Falder and Ruth, hoping
as a result that an attempt will be made to do something that will
prevent men and women from being victimized as Ruth and
Falder were, because of social and economic conditions.
The problem in this lesson takes the place of the usual
problems and questions.
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in April)
THE CHILD-STUDY COURSE
Lesson 13. Provisions for Mentally Superior Children-
(Based on Chapter 14, The Child: His Nature and His Needs.)
Since the preceding lesson which was devoted to the ques-
tion of intellectual inferiority, it seems logical that we now con-
sider the intellectually superior child.
This very able chapter was prepared by Dr. Leta S. Holling-
worth, Professor of Education, Teachers' College, Columbia
University. Dr. Hollingworth is a woman of unusual attainment ;
she has written extensively on the subject of special abilities and
disabilities in school children.
A. How Many Children Are Superior?
Since the advent of intelligence tests it has been possible to
compare the intelligence scores of school children in large num-
bers. Hundreds of thousands of tests in this country have yielded
the following distribution of intelligence, which may be regarded
as fairly applicable to most communities.
Distribution of Brightness and Dullness in Children
I. Q. Percent of
*( Intelligence All Children
Quotient)
Gifted Above 140 0.25
Very Superior 120 — 140 6.75
Superior 110 — 120 13.00
Average 90 — 110 60.00
Dull 80 — 90 13.00
Borderline 70 — 80 6.00
Feebleminded Below 70 1.00
100%
*The Intelligence Quotient is derived as follows :
M. A. (Mental Age)
C. A. (Chronological Age)
-I. Q.
116 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
For further information on mental testing see Lewis M.
Terman, "The Measurement of Intelligence," Houghton-Miffilin
Co., Boston; or Rudolph Pinter, "Intelligence Testing," Holt &
Co-, New York.
It will be noted from the table that about twenty per cent
of all school children can be said to be superior. As this superiority
increases, the number and proportion of other children decreases.
That is to say that while 13 per cent of school children may
roughly be said to have an intelligence quotient of 110-120, yet
only 7 per cent of children can be said to have intelligence quo-
tients about 120.
Stated differently, this means that 20 out of 100 school chil-
dren selected at random are of such superiority as to demand
special educational facilities and guidance- Again this means that
about six children out of the average hundred are of such superior-
ity as to warrant even more flexible classification and more in-
tensified guidance in the schools. The word "gifted," it will be
noted, is usually confined to those whose intelligence quotient is
140 and above. This distinction, however, is so rare that it
probably appears in only (about) two out of every thousand
school children.
For reasons which Dr. Hollingworth makes plain, one should
guard against assuming that every community will have intelli-
gence distributed according to the above general formula. In this,
as in all other forms of statistical generalization, it should be
remembered that many small groups can be found in which the
expected distribution does not appear. It is a statistical rule,
applicable here, that such generalizations are valid in proportion
as the number of children considered is large ; and invalid in pro-
portion as the group is small.
B. Terman? s Study of Genius
A few years ago the Commonwealth Fund of New York City
set aside a large sum of money for the study of genius. Dr.
Lewis M. Terman, of mental-testing fame, was awarded these
research funds in order to study the mental and physical traits
of a thousand gifted children. These children were sought out
from the school populations of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oak-
land, and included all children with an I. Q. of 140 or above.
The method was to ascertain and measure as many other
characteristics of these children as could possibly be determined —
race, height, weight, school progress, play interests, character,
status of parents. The results of this very interesting study* are
*"The Genetic Studies of Genius," Volume 1, Stanford University
Press.
summarized in Dr. Terman's conclusions, from which the follow-
ing extracts are taken:
"There is no shred of evidence to support the widespread
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 117
opinion * * * that the intellectually precocious child is weak,
undersized, or nervously unstable."
"In a majority of cases the superior or gifted child is evidenced
at an early age- Among the most commonly mentioned indica-
tions are intellectual curiosity, wealth of miscellaneous informa-
tion, and desire to learn to read."
"A majority of (these) Children * * * had the advan-
tage of superior cultural influence in the home."
It is evidently a rare experience for a gifted child to be
given work * * * commensurate with his intellectual abil-
ities."
"The one-sidedness of precocious children is mythical."
"The common opinion that intellectually superior children
are characterized by deficiency of play interests has been shown
to be wholly unfounded."
"The play interests of the gifted boy are above, rather than
below, the normal in degree of 'masculinity'." (Contrary to the
popular view that a "bright boy" is necessarily a "sissy,")
"These (gifted children) surpass unselected children in tests
of honesty, trustworthiness, and similar moral traits."
"One of the most astonishing facts brought out in this
investigation is that one's best chance of identifying the brightest
child in a school room is to examine the birth records and select
the youngest, rather than to take the one rated as brightest by
the teacher."
C- The Guidance of Superior Children
The last-quoted statement from Dr. Terman's conclusions,
that superior children are apt to be unnoticed by the teacher, is
very significant for parents and school-workers generally. This
means that many superior children are not only unknown to their
parents and their teachers, but are also inadequately provided for
in the home and in the school. The most important corollary of
these and other well-known facts in regard to superior children
is that they should be given tasks and stimulation commensurate
with their abilities.
It is a well-known principle that unless children are supplied
with tasks which challenge their best and greatest abilities, they are
prone to become disinterested and poorly adjusted. Many chil-
dren of superior ability develdp a distaste for school and for
education generally, and later become delinquent, because of the
failure of teachers and parents to furnish tasks which challenge
their capacity.
Inhere is another danger in this characteristic failure to
stimulate superior children up to the point of their capacity, and
that is in regard to what may be called the feeling or attitude of
superiority. It does not take a superior child very long to dis-
cover the difference between his own ability and that of other
children. If, throughout his school career, he is required to com-
118 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
pete with his inferior associates he will naturally develop a
warped sense of his own superiority. If, on the other hand, he
is placed in competition with children of his own mental ability,
he will be less likely to develop this unwholesome attitude of
superiority.
This brings us to a consideration of the best methods of
dealing with superior children in the public schools. There are
several ways by which this problem can be met by the forward-
looking school system. The commonest method is for the superior
children of a given age to be organized into a special group
within the grade and labeled "Group 1," or "Section A," or "B".
In this way the curriculum can be enriched and the teacher can
supply tasks and furnish guidance to challenge the child's ability.
A second method, also very common, is to promote the
child as fast as he completes the work of a given grade. While
this scheme has many advantages, it has the serious disadvantage,
especially in the case of pre-adolescent children, of super-inducing
prococity on the social and sexual side.
A third method, the most superior of them all, although the
most costly, is the method of individual instruction. At Winnetka,
Illinois, for instance, all children are given an opportunity to
travel through the school at their own rate. They are classified
and promoted in terms of their ability in specifc subjects, and
not, as is usually the case in the public schools, in terms of their
chronological or mental age.
Superior children should, of course, not ibe "crowded-"
Neither should they be held back and forced to mark time merely
because the school organization is inadequate to cope with indi-
vidual differences. That school system is best which, irrespective
of method or organization, makes possible the maximum develop-
ment of each child according to his general intelligence, and his
special abilities or disabilities.
Questions
1. What are the signs of superiority in infants, children,
adolescents ?
2. Why is it that parents usually underestimate the superiority
of their superior children?
3. What is significant in the fact that children who do well
in school are larger and stronger than those who do poorly ?
4. Do superior children tend to become superior adults?
5. How do you explain the fact that parents of superior chil-
dren usually produce comparatively small families?
6. How do you harmonize the facts of individual differences
with the theory of democracy? Criticize the proposition : "Schools
cannot equalize children; schools can only equalize opportunity?"
7. What provision do the schools in your community make for
superior, for very superior, and for gifted children?
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Unwanted Sarah Ahlstrom Nelsdn 121
Portrait of Miss Mary E. Richmond 122
Mary E. Richmond Amy W. Evans 123
Spring is Here Jessie Sundwall 127
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THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI MARCH, 1929 No. 3
Mary E. Richmond
Philanthropist and Social Worker
By Amy IV. Evans
On the second day of the new year of 1929, some of Mary
E. Richmond's friends met in the hall of the Russell Sage Founda-
tion, New York City. The meeting was held in her honor. They
spoke of her personality and the qualities that made her the leader
and the pioneer that she was in the field of social work. They
told of some of her achievements and the depth and breadth of
her influence upon the new profession she was instrumental in
establishing. Many had known her for years as friend and co-
worker.
Mary Richmond's Smile
As a keynote of the occasion the first speaker said, "There
was a certain smile that Mary Richmond reserved for bombast
and overstatement. Pretense, exaggeration, words instead of
ideas, would always evoke it. And so we must be cautious today
and not exceed the facts; to try for the 'just word' that so
delighted her, remembering that wise and quizzical smile. * * *
We are gathered here to celebrate the fact that she was our great
leader ; and to lift up our hearts and strengthen our resolve in
the light of her memory."
Her Work and Character
Through her books she was our friend and the woman of
our organization, who, as so many have done, have studied "The
Goo4 Neighbor," "Social Diagonsis," "What is Social Case
Work?" These have been a light and a guide to our feet in our
efforts to improve our social welfare work. Miss Richmond, who
died September 12, 1928, in New York City, was born in Belle-
ville, Illinois, in 1861. Her parents died at an early age, and she
went to live with her grandmother and an aunt in Baltimore.
There she graduated from high school but, because of straitened
circumstances, was unable to continue her formal education.
Her Hard Work in Youth
When she was sixteen, she went to New York to a position in
a publishing house, but received a mere pittance as a wage. Be-
124 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
coming ill, she returned to Baltimore, where she found work as a
bookkeeper in a store and later in a family hotel. During these
years she was a student, reading constantly. All her life she had
an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and ideas, and her reading
was broad and varied. "She faced the bitter hardships of these
early years honestly, and found her way out through hard in-
tellectual work. She apparently never pitied herself, nor per-
mitted fancy to smooth the rough edges of fact."
In 1889 the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore ad-
vertised for an assistant treasurer. Miss Richmond applied, be-
cause this work would take her out of doors, as it included the
collecting of funds, and being physically frail she felt this would
be good for her.
Her Social Work Begins
"At once in her new work, she showed her characteristic
keenness of perception and thoroughness. To be a good collector
she must be able to interpret to others the work of the society.
To interpret it well, she must have a first hand knowledge of the
work itself." She soon became a friendly visitor, and that was
the beginning of her social work. She was then twenty-eight years
old. Connected with the Baltimore Society at that time were
three notable men, President Gilman of Johns Hopkins University,
Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte, a leading lawyer, and John M. Glenn,
"a rare personality who had become blind in early manhood, but
lived in activity and marked intellectual insight." These men were
quick to recognize ability and keenness of mind and, gave oppor-
tunity and encouragement for their development. They soon
became aware of Miss Richmond's powers. She became the
secretary of the Charity Organization Society, receiving their
support in her plans to bring system and effectiveness into the
charity work. At that time the work was mostly in the hands of
volunteers ; but the thinking men and women among them realized
that their methods of giving "charity" were not satisfactory. It
took the vision and courage of Miss Richmond to venture out of
the trodden paths in the field of social work and discover new and
better ones.
What She Accomplished
John M. Glenn, director of the Russell Sage Foundation, so
long her co-worker and friend, said of her, "The death of Miss
Richmond will be an incalculable loss to the whole field of social
reform; for in her we have lost a fearless pioneer. Since her
entrance into the field of social work, she has untiringly blazed
the trail in behalf of the individualized method of helping human
beings out of trouble. Her insistence that solutions of people's
problems can only be worked out, case by case, rather than by
treating 'types' of poverty, gave rise to the generally accepted
MARY E. RICHMOND 125
term of 'social case work,' as a description of this particularized
method of procedure."
She Had Many Interests
Miss Richmond's interests in Baltimore went beyond her
duties as secretary of the Charity Organization Society. She was
interested in music of which she was very fond, and promoted con-
certs in connection with her church. She made a plea for good
music in the public parks in summer.
In her church she was a Sunday School teacher, and led a
class in the study of Shakespeare on a week night. She was very
fond of poetry. As a member of a club of working women, she
was their representative at their national conventions. Their
welfare and their opportunities were of great concern to her.
In the meantime she edited a paper called the "Charities Record,"
published eight times a year, and wrote her first book, "Friendly
Visiting Among the Poor."
Takes Charge in Philadelphia
In 1900 she was asked to go to Philadelphia and take charge of
the Charity Organization Society there, which she did; and dur-
ing her nine years there, accomplished a marvelous work. In that
day financial support of all this work was placed on the ex-
ecutive's shoulders. After reorganizing the society she freed it
from debt. She secured $81,000 for a new Wayfarers' Lodge and
raised an endowment fund of $55,000. In order to do this she
wrote thousands of letters, reports, and pamphlets. Her example
in this work also was soon followed the country over, greatly to
the benefit of social work.
"She led in securing the passage of Wife Desertion and Non-
Support legislation, and in forming the Pennsylvania Child Labor
Committee, which secured child labor legislation; in establishing
the Juvenile Court, the Children's Bureau. She led in the Housing
Investigation in 1905, and promoted the organization of the Hous-
ing Association. She set in motion the movement that resulted in
legislation providing institutional care for feeble-minded women
and children, organized public meetings to consider social legisla-
tion, aroused city officials to enforce the law against street-begging,
and advocated schools of philanthropy for training in social work."
Other Important Labors
These are but a few of the things she accomplished in social
reforms. Her skill and sound judgment were also effective in pre-
venting development of many unsound projects. In 1909 she
was appointed director of the Charity Organization Department of
the Russell Sage Foundation in New York. This position gave
her opportunity for study, writing, and teaching, thus making the
126 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
results of her years of experience in social work available for
others.
During the war she aided in the work for soldiers' families
and it was she who gave to this work the name of "Home
Service." Many of the phrases she coined are common property,
such as "Broken Homes," "Social Case Work," "Social Diagnosis."
Phases of Her Work
Though she had no college degree, Smith College in 1921,
conferred upon her the degree of Master of Arts "for her de-
velopment of methods of social work which have given the scientific
basis of a new profession." In her "Social Diagnosis" she
systematized processes and developed a technique of social work
which earned for her that honor. As a preparation for the Inter-
national Conference of Social Work held in Paris in the summer
of 1928, Miss Richmond's book, "What is Social Case Work," was
translated into French. Her own answer to the question she gives
• s follows : "Social Case work consists of those processes which
develop personality through adjustment consciously effected, in-
dividual by individual, between men and their social environment."
A French physician, who translated her book, expressed the
opinion that it would be of great assistance to the social workers
of Europe. Just before her death she completed her book "Mar-
riage and the State" which is now published by the Russell Sage
Foundation.
Was Happy When Helping Others
Those who knew her best say she was never happier than
when she was giving to others the results of her study and expe-
rience. "She had the true professional spirit that the creation of
one is the common property of the group," and down to the last
day of her life she was receiving letters from people who tried to
tell her how much she had done forthem.
Rober M. Yerkes says of her: "Intellectually alert, diversi-
fied in interest, educated by practical experience more largely than
by schools, yet deeply cultured by breadth, variety, and complexity
of human relations, together with extensive reading, she was able
to assimilate experience and to transmute it into beneficent serv-
ice. Genuinely sympathetic, socially minded by training — if not
by nature — quick in perception of significant relations, as also
of humor and pathos ; responsive, but not effusive, this sturdy and
independent personality met the world and shaped it in conformity
with her ideals. * * * From her personality and achieve-
ments we read : 'Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make
ye free ;' and as a text of social service cyc shall understand and
understanding shall- make ye kind/ "
MARY E. RICHMOND 127
She Has No Successor
Another friend said: "About the things she believed in she
could be arrogant; but about herself and her accomplishment she
was humble. If she had to make her own summing up, I think it
might have been in the words of one who was not the least among
her literary loves. 'Blessed is he who has dropped even the
smallest coin into the iron box which contains the precious savings
of mankind.' * * * Personally, I refused to believe that
Mary E. Richmond is dead. It is such as she who furnish all
the proof I need of immortality. There could be no such cosmic
wastefulness as to quench such spirits utterly. All those years of
painful acquirement and outgiving, of rigorous self-discipline to
the enlargement of her powers, cannot go to waste."
Frank J. Bruno, says of her : "It is ridiculous to think or to
look around for a successor. The builders of trails through un-
known wildernesses have no successors. They have followers,
those who take up the work where the pioneers have laid it down.
* * * * '■pjle passmg 0f Miss Richmond further draws down
the curtain upon a group of men and women that is rapidly dis-
appearing, battle-scarred, courageous pioneers of whom we are
likely to say in the years ahead of us, that there were giants in those
days."
Spring is Here
By Jessie Sundwall
There's a lilt in the song of the robin,
A tang in the sweet breathy air,
And showing of green
Over nature's great screen,
Eree she showers her blossoms so rare.
There's a gay little perk to the bluebird,
As he peens on the bronch of the tree,
And the lambkins at play
Have a more cunning way,
As they gambol about carelessly.
There's a dash in the stride of the schoolboy,
His cap at an angle is set,
He owns, if you please,
The world which he sees,
A man with his battles unmet.
There's a glow in the blue of the heavens,
More glint to the sunshine at morn,
This message is breathed,
The whole earth is wreathed,
Proclaiming all nature reborn.
Women Legislators
By Annie Wells Cannon
The legislature of 1929 will differ in one respect from those
of any other year in that nearly all the states have elected women
members.
Since the Suffrage Amendment in 1920 there has been noted
marked progress among women in almost every line of activity.
The women have taken their enfranchisement quite seriously, and
among the different groups or associations have endeavored to
make a study of political science in order to intelligently use the
ballot.
The result this year has been most gratifying, so much so, that
according to figures compiled by the National League of Women
Voters this last year, 1928, seven women have been elected to
Congress instead of four, and 145 women now sit in legislatures in
thirty-eight states.
Connecticut is the state that leads all others in women legis-
lators, having one woman in the senate and nineteen in the House.
There is no question but that women make good legislators.
They approach their task earnestly and generally speaking quite
unselfishly. It seems to be their desire to serve the state as a
whole, and help to bring about those measures that will benefit
the people most, without regard to county boundaries or per-
sonal interests. While women naturally incline towards measures
pertaining to social and educational questions, they are equally
alert on any measure, and not often given to hasty or biased judg-
ment. The records of Utah's women legislators show them to
have given good and efficient service and many most beneficial
laws in the statutes have been introduced and carried through to
enactment by them.
It is therefore a safe conclusion that in the 18th legislature of
1929 the women will maintain the good standard of their predeces-
sors and give excellent service to the state.
There are six women in the House. The largest number yet
elected in Utah. Heretofore with two exceptions, once Weber
county and once Utah county sending a woman representative, the
women have all been elected from Salt Lake county. This year,
1929, Box Elder and Carbon counties each sent one, a fact which
might seem to several a broader vision on the part of the electorate.
There are a number of important measures coming before the
present legislature in which the women are particularly interested,
principally a school for the feeble-minded, and the women of the
state are anxiously watching the outcome. That the women legis-
W OMEN LEGISLATORS 129
lators may be assured of fine support from the outside the dif-
ferent clubs and organizations of women have formed a Woman's
Legislative Committee, which meets regularly and by the appoint-
ment of committees, corresponding to the legislative committee, are
watching the course of all measures and lending what aid is per-
mitted by meeting with the different committees and expressing
their views either for or against as the case may warrant. The
influence this committee might yield is easily recognized when
one considers the personnel consists of three members each, from
all the womens organizations and clubs in the state, therefore
much is expected and we predict much will be achieved by Utah's
women legislators of 1929, backed as they are by so strong and
intelligent a group.
Trie six women now sitting among the law makers are Mrs.
Luncinda P. Jensen of Box Elder county, Mrs. Grace A. Cooper
of Carbon county, Mrs. Anna T. Piercey, Mrs. Emily M. Carlisle,
Mrs. Martha Purser, Mrs. Frank Page Stewart all of Salt Lake
county. These women not only represent the constituency which
elected them, but the women of the state have a personal interest
in all they do for after all women are just beginning to grasp the
reins in government and are the cynosure of all eyes. Men's
mistakes may go unnoticed but women's are often times heralded
as a reflection on the inability of women to meet great issues.
In preparing a brief sketch of the lives of these six women
legislators the writer is happy in the thought that they will
measure up to all that is expected of them in their arduous and
trying position.
MRS. LUCINDA P. JENSEN
For the first time Boxelder county has sent a woman rep-
resentative to the state legislature, Mrs. Lucinda P. Jensen of
Bear River City having that honor.
Mrs. Jensen assumes her duties well equipped and qualified
for the tasks that lie before her, with a rather remarkable and
varied record of public service and a home life that would be the
pride of any woman.
She is the oldest daughter in a family of four of Mr. Chrest and
Mrs. Mary C. Peterson and the granddaughter of those hardy and
faithful pioneers who braved the unknown for conscience sake.
Two of her grandparents came with the hand cart companies, one
died on the plains, and one reached the valley of Salt Lake so
pierced with arrow wounds received in an Indian skirmish that he
never fully recovered. Her girlhood was spent on her father's
ranch in the Bear River Valley. Her father died when she was
fifteen years old, and from that time she became her mother's
counselor and assistant in all that pertained to the ranch, in the
130
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
meantime attending school to glean knowledge from books as
well as experience.
"Often," says Mrs. Jensen, "I recall my mother's anxious
face at the window, watching for my return from school in the late
afternoon as I made my way on horseback through a drifting
snow storm. There is not much I do not know about horses and
though now I drive a car I never presume to instruct others in
that achievement, but when I see a man having trouble with a
horse I want to take the lines from him and show him how to
handle that fine domestic animal."
After the elementary schools she attended the Sacred Heart
Mrs. Lucinda P. Jensen
Academy in Ogden and later the state university. At this time
she became assistant and help to Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells in the
office of the Woman's Exponent, so is not entirely a stranger
to the readers of Relief Society periodicals. It was "Aunt Em"
who encouraged her to tour Europe before settling down to her
life's work, which she did for a year, thus affording a rather
broader and certainly more finished outlook at the close of her
school days. With this heritage and background she was well
prepared for life's responsibilities and she chose the better part,
She is the wife of Orson Jensen, a successful stock raiser and
WOMEN LEGISLATORS 131
business man of the Bear River Valley and they have six children,
five sons and one daughter. The oldest son was one of the first
missionaries to South America and the other children are pursuing
their education in the University of Utah and county schools.
Though so active in public service, Mrs. Jensen is most of
all proud of her home life. Well trained in all the excellencies
of housewifery and domestic arts, her home reflects the talents
and good taste of its gracious mistress. She has a passion for
landscape gardening and when time permits indulges somewhat
in china painting, being rather fond of ceramic art.
Mrs. Jensen has always been interested in Church, civic and
business organizations and has willingly acted as teacher in nearly
all the auxiliary organizations of the L. D. S. Church. She is an
active member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and when pres-
ident of that organization with her co-workers, secured the log
cabin which was a part of the old Bear River Fort and had it re-
paired and placed on the public square where it now furnishes a
unique museum for pioneer relics and is the first shrine in Box
Elder county to the worthy pioneers.
Mrs. Jensen holds numerous offices among business organiza-
tions. Is president of the home and community department of the
County Farm Bureau, president of the Home Economics Club,
president of the Ladies' Woolgrowers of Northern Utah, and
president of the Better Homes Committee. It was largely through
her efforts that the services of a school nurse for the Bear River
Valley were obtained ; and she is always most happy to lend her
time and talents towards any onward move for the benefit of the
home and the community. Politically Mrs. Jensen is a Republican
and is at present a member of the Republican state committee.
She has received some very good appointments on committees for
the House and is chairman of the Committee on Public Health.
MRS. GRACE AVERY COOPER
With broad business experience and a well trained mind Mrs.
Cooper entered upon her legislative duties well prepared to meet
the requirements and problems before her.
Mrs. Cooper though not a native Utahn has the interests
of the state at heart and expresses herself as anxious to promote
those projects which will be of most benefit to the community.
She was born in Missouri where she received her education. She
had thought at one time to follow a musical career and graduated
from the state conservatory of music but later decided to take
up journalism and when quite young worked as a reporter on the
home paper.
After her marriage she and her husband came west where in
both Colorado and Wyoming they both engaged in newspaper
work. Thirteen years ago in 1916, they came to Utah and pur-
132
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
chased the controlling interest in the Price News Advocate, an
independent paper which they published and edited together.
Six years ago her husband died and since that time Mrs.
Cooper has continued alone the work the two had so willingly
shared. Everyone knows it is no easy task to publish and edit a
newspaper especially when one has all the responsibility, as well
as the labor, but this brave little woman has carried on and won
for herself the confidence and praise of the community to the
extent that she entered the political campaign by the request of
many citizens without regard to party though her political per-
Mrs. Grace A. Cooper
suasions are Democratic. Since coming to Utah she has been quite
active in club work and being in the newspaper game naturally,
much interested in public affairs. She is a member and past
president of the Price Sorosis and through that a member of the
State Federation of Women's Clubs. She is at present organ-
izing regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution and
active in the P. E. O. sisterhood and Eastern Star. For the third
term she has been elected secretary and treasurer of the Utah
Press Association and is vice-president for Utah for the National
Press Association on education. Her House committee appoint-
ments are Judiciary, Public Printing, Enrolling and Engrossing.
WOMEN LEGISLATORS 133
Those who have followed the legislative work have found her
earnest, industrious and willing. She realizes that her calling is
to serve the people of the state and this she endeavors to do making
a record of which she can look back upon with pride and satis-
faction.
MRS. ANNA THOMAS PIERCEY
Mrs. Anna T. Piercey possesses a very signal distinction. She
was a member of the legislative session which had to ratify the
Susan B. Anthony or 19th amendment, and the speaker of the
House courteously invited her to take the speaker's chair during
the roll call. ,
Mrs. Piercey is the daughter of Professor Charles J. Thomas,
the pioneer leader of the theatre orchestra and one of the earliest
conductors of the Tabernacle choir. Born and raised in Salt Lake
Mrs. Anna T. Piercey
City in a cultural environment she early learned the value of
education and self-advancement. From the little private school
house, she went to the Brigham Young University at Provo of
which institution she is a graduate. She is also a graduate of
the Salt Lake City Kindergarten Training school and of the
134 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
normal department of the state university. She followed the
profession of school teaching for five years during which time
she also taught music.
Her husband diecl in 1908 leaving her with three little chil-
dren to care for. At this bereavement she found much comfort
in the knowledge she had acquired and could turn to use, to
prevent any thought of dependency. Mrs. Piercey has had many
varied experiences which have given her a broad and charitable
attitude towards the needs of the people.
Legislation is not new to Mrs. Piercey. She has served in two
previous sessions in both of which her service was quite marked.
She is the author of the eight hour law for women, a law re-
quiring two shifts to be worked within twelve consecutive hours
and it is considered one of the best eight hour laws in the United
States. She has also endeavored to amend the minimum wage law
for women, and steered her amendment through the House only
to have it defeated in the Senate. She now asserts that she will
again take up this needed legislation in behalf of the working girl.
She also hopes to be helpful in securing a state school for the
feeble-minded and other matters of keen interest to women and
children. In politics she is a most ardent Democrat and one of the
founders of the Woodrow Wilson Club in Utah.
She is a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, and acted
as secretary for this organization during the Diamond Jubilee.
She is also a war mother and gave fine service in connection with
the Red Cross during the period of the World War. As a
worker in the Traveler's Aid Society she has assisted and be-
friended hundreds of young women when they failed to meet
friends or relatives and were left in the strange quandary of not
knowing just what to do or where to go. Mrs. Piercey's expe-
rience in this and other welfare work is guarantee sufficient that
she understands the needs of the working classes and will give all
the support she can towards any measure that will reasonably
insure assistance and protection in industry.
MRS. EMILY McDONALD CARLISLE
Mrs. Carlisle is a native of Utah. She was born on a farm in
Salt Lake county, picturesquely situated at the foot of the
Wasatch hills. As a child she revelled in the delight of a beautiful
outdoor life ; climbing the hills in the different seasons in search of
wild flowers or following her brothers in search of game.
Robust, light-hearted, happy, she grew to young womanhood.
While the regular routine of life on a farm has its arduous
cares and responsibilities at the same time it teaches many fine
lessons in economy, thrift and perseverance and is not without its
wholesome pleasures. Family life is more closely bound, and as
WOMEN LEGISLATORS
135
in the case of Mrs. Carlisle mother and daughter share an in-
timate relationship not only of heart, but mind, which makes and
marks the future.
Her mother was extremely fond of reading and to her
growing daughter read poems, stories and history, instilling in her
mind a love for good books and ambitions for education.
Mrs. Carlisle is the daughter of Francis and Rozella Stevenson
McDonald. Her forebears came to America in an early period
and had part in conquering the land and establishing our con-
Mrs.' Emily M. Carlysle
stitutional government. In like manner her grandparents pio-
neered the west and were among the founders of this common-
wealth. Her grandfather Edward Stevenson was one of the First
Seven Presidents of Seventy, and known far and wide for his
untiring missionary service.
Mrs. Carlisle is a graduate of the Utah University and took
a course in pedagogy at the Teachers College of Columbia Uni-
versity, New York. She has devoted much time to teaching, a
profession she dearly loves. She also has given of her
talents and knowledge very freely in the different auxiliary or-
ganizations of the Church and is at the present time president of
the Relief Society of the Holladay ward.
136 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
In 1923 she became the wife of Harvey C. Carlisle in whose
home she became a mentor and affectionate mother, to his little
family bereft by death of their own mother. She has two lovely
children of her own and claims, notwithstanding a busy public
life, motherhood is the highest calling and should be the first con-
sideration.
In the legislature she is a member of the Committee on Edu-
cation, Resolutions and the School for the Deaf and Blind. Her
purpose is to endeavor to promote good in all state departments
and institutions.
MRS. MARTHA PAUL PURSER
Salt Lake county outside of the city is represented in the
legislature by Mrs. Martha Paul Purser of the busy industrial
center Magna, where the great refining plant of the Utah Copper
Company is located. That she would be interested in the vital
subjects that come before the legislature is certain, for the very
atmosphere of her daily contact brings such subjects constantly
before her.
Amidst the unceasing buzzing and whirring of machinery, the
constant passing to and fro of heavily loaded ore trains, the regular
changing shifts of workmen passing on their way to and from the
mills, she performs her home duties and ponders over the neces-
sities of the day. This daily experience would seem to qualify
her for public. service and she entered upon her duties with the
thought uppermost in her mind to render good for her com-
munity and state.
Mrs. Purser was born in Mendon, Cache county and is a
descendant of Utah pioneers. When she was a little girl her father
moved to southern Idaho, being among the early settlers of that
locality. The family had twice the experience of pioneer life,
an experience which, however hard, enriches and molds character.
She attended the public schools of Idaho and later entered the
Ricks Academy at Rexburg from which institution she graduated.
After her marriage to James Purser, in company with her hus-
band she attended the Agricultural College at Logan, taking spe-
cial courses in Kindergarten and child training. Mrs. Purser has
always shown a desire to be of service to children and in her
church activities has devoted much time to the welfare of the
little folks. She has for many years been active in the Primary,
and at present is president of that association in the Oquirrh
stake.
Mrs. Purser has been, for some time, an active member of
the Woman's Club of Magna, also of the Parent Teachers Associa-
tion of which she is a past president.
Politically she is a Democrat and is at the present time Pres-
W OMEN LEGISLATORS
137
ident of the Woman's Democratic Club of Magna. At the Demo-
cratic caucus she was specially appointed to work in behalf of the
new Kindergarten measure and the school for the Feeble-minded.
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Martha P. Purser
Her House Committee appointments are Public Health, Industrial
School and Prison Removal. She has a most pleasing personality
and expresses a desire to work harmoniously to build up or
strengthen community life.
MRS. FRANK PAGE STEWART
While not Utah born Mrs. Frank Page Stewart has so
closely allied herself with the interests of the state that her heart
is here and she expresses in all her work a keen desire to serve
her adopted state.
Born in the lovely city of Atlanta, Georgia, and most of her
life spent in Florida, she brings a new atmosphere among the law-
makers ; and, if it is as sweet and effective as her southern accent,
she will surely win her way. She is a graduate of the Dunal
High School and Draughns College of Jacksonville, Florida, at
both of which institutions she later became a teacher. As a wife,
and mother of two little girls, she is naturally interested in child
welfare and education. While her first thought is the home, she
has also found time to serve on numerous civic committees.
138
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
She belongs to a number of patriotic societies and has been
president of the American 1 .egion Auxiliary of Salt Lake City,
also secretary of the State organization. Politically she is a
Democrat and has been most active in each campaign since 1920.
Mrs. Frank Page Stewart
During the last four years she has held the office of assistant
secretary of the Democratic State Committee.
A young matron of pleasing countenance and graceful man-
ner, she claims no particular hobbies, and with an open mind is
willing and anxious to help along any legislation that will be
progressive and helpful for the community.
MY CANVASES
By Merling D. Clyde
I do not need a brush to paint
The wonders that I see,
I hang them all on memory's wall
And take them round with me.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto— Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD - - ... Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Miss Alice Louise Reynolds
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Barbara Howell RichardsMrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor ........ Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager - - - - Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager ...... Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI MARCH, 1929 No. 3
EDITORIAL
Women and Peace
If women have been and still are interested in prohibition,
they are still more interested in the abolition of war and the
establishment of peace. Since the beginning of December, 1928,
such names as Carrie Chapman Catt and Jane Addams have
been very much to the fore because of their efforts to abolish war
and establish peace.. On January 15th a conference delegation
met to discuss the problem of national armament reduction; as
part of their program they marched upon the capitol at Washing-
ton and presented to Senators ten thousand resolutions of women's
organizations, asking that they endorse the Briand-Kellogg anti-
war treaty. This move was in support of the pact ratification.
Mrs. Catt stated that the national feeling was squarely behind
the treaty. She said that over ten thousand meetings held in
forty-eight states had made this fact obvious.
Following the ratification of the Briand-Kellogg treaty we
have an appeal from the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom. At present they are asking in vigorous
terms that the cruiser bill be defeated. These people contend that
the building of fifteen more cruisers will make the treaty a sham
and a hypocritical trick. If the bill is defeated, they believe we
shall then start on the road of the new era which the Briand-
Kellogg treaty has given the world ; but if we build the fifteen
cruisers, we shall renew the old race in armament and probably
continue to perpetuate the archaic and wicked war system of the
past.
140 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
In this editorial we are not arguing any case. We are merely
seeking to present the fact that women in the United States are
intensely interested in peace and will stand squarely behind any
program for peace that appears feasible. It is natural that women
should do this ; for, as Mrs. Catt has pointed out in more than
one of her public addresses, all the other struggles that women
have made are lost if they are to be deluged in war, whose
destructive agencies can mean nothing less than the sacrifice of
civilization and the human race.
A tribute to Miss Jane Addams by Grace Hoffman White
commends her attitude in this matter. It reads :
Though she has felt and mourned our human woes,
She still holds laughter as a gift of God
That turns the blade of those that would be foes
And lives to know a time when wars shall cease ;
Her voice calls to the world "shake off the sod
And know the love that is constructive peace."
Raffling and Games of Chance
As the Relief Society, more than any other organization
in the Church, has interested itself in bazaars and as it is charged
with the responsibility of meeting people's wants in many di-
rections, and as it does seek means in various ways to meet these
responsibilities, we wish to present a statement from the Pre-
siding Bishops of the Church, concurred in by the General Board
of the Relief Society, on raffling and games of chance. It has
come to the knowledge of the General Board that sometimes
wards have exhibited quilts to be raffled during a Sunday Sacra-
ment meeting. iBecause of this report and others indicating that
raffling and games of chance are being indulged in, we are
publishing a statement that we think should make our attitude
entirely clear.
"Raffling, Games of Chance, Etc.
"Reports have been received from time to time that, in some
instances, at ward fairs and other ward entertainments, raffling
and other games of chance have been conducted. The argument
used in favor of these contests is that such games are common
in the business world and that the purpose for which they are
employed is a worthy one.
"In order, however, that the position of the Church may
be clear, we are quoting herewith from instructions given by
President Joseph F. Smith and by President Heber J. Grant,
which expresses the attitude of the church authorities. President
Smith said, 'Raffling is a game of chance, and hence leads to
gambling.' For that reason, if for no other, it should not be
encouraged among the young people of the Church. President
Young declared raffling to be a modified name of gambling and
EDITORIAL 141
said that 'as Latter-day Saints we cannot afford to sacrifice moral
principles to financial gain,' and advised the sisters, through the
Woman's Exponent not to raffle. President Lorenzo Snow en-
dorsed and approved of these statements and I have often ex-
pressed my unqualified disapproval of raffling. President Grant
says, 'I have always understood that our people were advised to
raise their money for charitable and other purposes without in-
dulging in raffling, where chances are sold. There is no objection
to creating competition in various ways in ward entertainments
in order to raise money, but the selling of chances on any article
has been discouraged.'
"The spirit of gambling or taking chances for money is so
rampant in the world at the present time that the moderating
influence and example of the Church should be exercised in behalf
of our young people toward resisting such temptations. We urge
that the spirit of these instructions be followed in all ward enter-
tainments, and that proper advice in the same direction be given
all members of the Church."
Women in the Congress of the United States
The present complexion of the Congress of the United States,
so far as the women are concerned, suggests Wordsworth's re-
frain put in the mouth of the little cottage girl, "O, Master, we
are seven." It was facetiously remarked during the last campaign
that about the only humor furnished grew out of the fact that the
three women running for Congress were named Ruth, a state-
ment justifying the notion said one American daily, that the next
Congress would not be entirely ruthless.
Trie four women who were in the last Congress were returned.
They are Mrs. Florence B. Kahn, born in Salt Lake City, rep-
resenting the State of California ; Kate G. Langley, born in Mar-
shall, Madison county, North Carolina, representing the State
of Kentucky ; Mrs. Mary T. Norton, born in Jersey City, rep-
resenting the State of New Jersey ; Edith N. Rogers born in Sacco,
Maine, representing the State of Massachusetts. To this number
was added, as a result of the last election, Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen,
of Miami, Florida, representing the State of Florida; Ruth Hanna
McCormick, of Chicago, representing the State of Illinois ; Ruth
Baker Pratt, of New York City, representing the State of New
York.
This is the largest number of women that have been in the
Congress of the United States at one time. It is also true that the
aggregate number of women in the state legislatures is greater than
ever before. The women of the United States have had a hard
struggle to obtain proper recognition in the law-making bodies of
the land, but the situation as it presents itself today is at least
encouraging.
Selma Lagerlof
Sweden's Most Noted Woman
By Clara J. Fagergren
Miss Selma Lagerlof is Doctor of Literature, Nobel Prize
winner, and honorary member of several foreign literary societies.
Most of her writings have been translated to English, French, and
German ; many of her books have been acquired for screen use ;
and several are used as text-books in schools. She depicts the
life and customs of her native country ; her masterful portrayal
of old legends and traditions has helped to preserve Swedish
history.
Her genius was recognized when she submitted a story in
a contest conducted by a woman's magazine, "Indun." She won
first prize, and the king of Sweden arranged that she be granted a
year's leave of absence from her work as school teacher with all
expenses paid, in order that she might continue her prize story,
so that it could be published in book form. The result was the
"Story of Gosta Berling," a romantic fantasy interwoven with
weird tales, ancient folklore, and historical events against a set-
ting of Swedish background. It was the book that eventually won
for her the Nobel Prize.
Selma Lagerlof soon gave up school teaching, and devoted
her time to writing; and now, after nearly fifty years' endeavor
in the literary field, she is known to all reading classes. For the
faithful manner with which she pictures life in Sweden she is
revered and beloved by her people.
Being in Selma Lagerlof's country, it was but natural that
we should desire to meet her. To* this end we boarded the train
at Upsala, and after a day's journey through a delightful land-
scape of unsurpassed scenery, we stopped ofif for the night in
the town of Kil. At six, the next morning, we continued by
steamer up lake Fryken to Marbacka, Selma Lagerlof's home in
Vermland.
Most of the passengers on the boat were tourists from Den-
mark and Germany, on their way up north to view the wonders
of the midnight sun. They were a jolly, prosperous lot, carry-
ing kodaks and field glasses. The men spent most of the time
on board in the dining salon eating enormous quantities of food.
When our traveling companions learned our destination, they
shook their heads doubtfully. Doctor Lagerlof did not allow
visitors to enter her grounds. She even kept several guards
SELMA LAGERLOF
143
patroling the premises to prevent curious people from taking pic-
tures of her home.
We landed on a small bridge on the edge of a woodland,
and the captain told how to find the shortest way to Marbacka :
"Follow the path till you reach the main road, then turn to
the left and there you are."
The woodland path was bordered with thick hedges of
raspberry bushes loaded with ripe fruit, and being only human
we had to stop and pick what was within reach. The main road
forked in several directions, however, so we sought information
Selma Lagerlof
at the nearest farm house. An old woman in home-woven dress
and flowered kerchief on her head answered our questions.
"Yes, Selma Lagerlof was at home, alright, for only a few
Sundays ago she had been to church. She had seen her only
from a distance, but had never spoken to her, although a neigh-
bor; for Miss Lagerlof was of a different class. The woman and
her aged husband were struggling along with the farm, for all
their children had emigrated to America where everybody gets
rich.
We passed Svartsjo church, described in "Gosta Berling."
The structure is like most country churches in Sweden, sub-
144 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
stantial, white-plastered, bare, and surrounded by grave mounds
and iron crosses. It is from this section of the country that Miss
Lagerlof got the material for her famous story ; for here are
found the estates, forests, lakes, and waterfalls she loves to tell
about.
At first, with light steps and high spirits, we follow the
winding road; but as we gradually tire, the distance to Marbacka
seems interminably long. It is hours since we landed from the
steamer ; nevertheless, our inquiries meet with cheerful answers :
"Only a little way to the east, or west, or north," depending
on the direction we faced. And it finally dawned on us we were
in a country where a little jaunt of ten or twelve miles is con-
sidered a child's undertaking. We had been under the delusion
that the distance to Marbacka could be covered in fifteen minutes.
A neat little place with blooming plants in the windows and
the sign "Cafe" on the door beckons us in. Three girls, hair
done up in braids and faces sprinkled with freckles, grin from
an inner kitchen. There is no food in sight.
"Dinner won't be ready for an hour. The fire is out ; and,
besides, this is the girls' time off."
At the next place a woman with dough on her hands and
flour on her nose invites us to a table spread with a fine linen
cover, a work of art.
"Can we get something to eat ?"
"Yes, but not food," came the startling answer. "It's too
early for dinner ; but I can serve fresh buns and milk."
Excellent. She brings a heaped-up basket of cakes and we eat
as only famished people can eat, the whole family watching from
respectable distance. Then we sense something is wrong. Good
manners demand we take only a small portion, and here we are.
eating more than our share. The woman receives our money
silently, hands it over to her husband, and resumes baking.
Refreshed and rested, we continue on. A thunder shower
suddenly comes up, and we seek shelter from the driving rain
under the nearest roof, which happens to be the district school
house. The structure, a big, red-painted building, has four airy,
well arranged class rooms downstairs and living quarters for the
teachers up stairs. A trim woman teacher, detained for some
reason during the vacation months, chatters sociably while we
wait for the rain to stop.
The school children come within a radius of eight English
miles, a good two-hour walk, often through deep snow in zero
weather. In winter it's dark when school starts at nine in the
morning, and dark when it lets out at three in the afternoon.
Salaries for teachers do not run very high ; but rooms, light, and
fuel are furnished free, so that teachers with positions are lucky.
As suddenly as it had started the storm stopped, and in
SELMA LAGERLOF 145
radiant sunshine we again begin the search for the elusive Mar-
backa. The road branched off through a forest, with here and
there a clearing for a tiny farm. Women worked in the fields
with the men, while children tended flocks of sheep among the
trees. The forest terminated into a wide plain of fertile meadows,
and right before our eyes was the mansion of the best known
woman in Sweden.
Marbacka is an expansive estate of many acres of rich farm
land, a well-kept garden of hundreds of fruit trees, large grounds
of flower beds and green lawns, and gravel walks. The home of
the author is an imposing three-story structure with tile roof and
wide verandas. Two toy cannons guard the entrance. A couple
of showy peacocks strut about. A big dog disturbed from his
sleep on the door-mat springs up and bays furiously. The front
door is opened by a maid in stiffly starched apron, who looks
us up and down questioningly
On a hastily scribbled card we explain we are visitors from
America who will count it a great honor to meet the author of
"Gosta Berling." A long wait. Finally the door is opened
grudgingly and we are ushered into a vast and gorgeously fur-
nished drawing room.
The big room is stately and formal. The floor is parquet
oak, very slick and highly polished. Designs in blue stencil orna-
ment the white walls, and an antique "kakelugn," fireplace, of
glazed tile and intricate pattern takes up a good deal of space.
The furniture is upholstered in canary-colored brocade. On a
large round center-table are stacks of autographed copies of first
editions of well-known writers. In one corner stands a grand
piano draped with a cover of fringed silk. Some original paint-
ings in sombre colors hang in the place of honor on the wall above
a massive davenport. A radio of the latest pattern is placed near
the door. Our curious inspection of the "salong" is interrupted
by the entrance of Selma Lagerlof herself.
Miss Lagerlof is now over seventy years old. She walks with
a slight limp, due to an accident a few years ago, when she
slipped and fell on a railroad platform and dislocated her hip.
Her face is broad and kindly with little mirth wrinkles at the
corners of her blue eyes. The gray hair is combed back straight
and pinned on top of the head.
"Please be seated.', The invitation is given whole-heartedly,
and right away we feel at home. Miss Lagerlof herself chooses a
comfortable arm chair.
"So you're from America! That's a country I'm very much
interested in and would like to see, were it not for the tiresome
journey. Nearly everyone in this neighborhood has relatives or
friends in the United States, and once in a while someone comes
home on a visit, looking prosperous and happy. It is of course to
146
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Selma Lagerlof's Home
be regretted that so many of our young people leave the country ;
but our resources are limited and land is hard to obtain, therefore
one can't blame people for going where they can do better."
"Miss Lagerlof would enjoy the trip," we venture ; "in
America you would see so many things to write about."
"I don't need to leave home to find subjects to write about. I
only wish there was time for me to describe the scenes I see every
day right here in my own neighborhood."
And the great author looked out the window over the smooth
fields and green woodland.
"All my life I have noticed scenery and admired nature
where other people see nothing or are too busy with their work
to lift up their eyes. The settings for all my stories are taken
from these surroundings. I am told I have made Vermland here
in Sweden famous by describing it. These places have always
been here, only I seem to be the first one to discover their beauty.
"In my early days I taught school and I have always been
interested in young people. Several of my books are now used
in the schools. My 'Nils Holgerson's Wonderful Trip Through
Sweden' has been accepted as geographical reader. I am con-
vinced that Sweden has an inexhautisble source of information to
draw from, both romantic and historical.
"Last midsummer I was invited to be present at the closing
exercises in the public schools in Kiruna, the most northen city in
Sweden; in fact, it's inside the Arctic circle. Although it was
the end of June the leaves were not yet out on the birch trees, and
the planting hadn't started. The growing season up there is about
SELMA LAGERLOF 147
six weeks, barely enough to raise a crop of hay, vegetables, and
berries. However, the summers up north are a continuation of
glorious daylight. On the other hand, down south in Skanie
are crops of sugarbeets and tropical fruit. Truly a wonderful
land! Where can you find another country like it?"
Asked if she had ever thought of getting married, she smiled
in an amused fashion.
"No, I have never been married and it's too late in life to
think about it now. It seems I have always been too busy with
other things. In addition to my writing and correspondence
I manage my estate and direct the servants about their work,
and then I like to have a little time to read.
"I inherited this home from my parents, but I've had it en-
larged and remodeled so that one would hardly know it from the
old place. A heating plant has been installed ; for these large
rooms were never comfortably warmed by only fireplaces. Here
in Vermland we have long months of very cold weather. Since
the improvements were made I stay here the year round; before
that I lived in the city of Falun during the cold season.
"No, I don't have much time to associate with the neigh-
bors. Occasionally I go to church, for I'm a member of the
Protestant faith and believe that every true citizen should have a
good religious standing in the community. One needs a strong
foundation to build on or the structure is liable to fall."
She rose slowly from her chair and adjusted a curtain. The
visit is over. We are asked to write our names in the visitor's
book, and Selma Lagerlof kindly autographs a book for us. Then
she politely follows us out on the veranda and consents to pose
for a snapshot.
"I'm pleased to know the people in America like me and
read my books," she says in parting. "I have great respect and
admiration for the greatest country in the world. After all, we are
closely linked, for the bond of friendship is strong between us
despite the great distance that parts us."
She stands a commanding figure in her long black dress
fastened at the throat with a heavy gold brooch. She gives her hand
formally at parting and wishes us well on the return trip. Out-
side of the high, grilled-iron fence, a party of summer tourists
crowd to catch a glimpse of the author ; and we feel lucky indeed
to have had the privilege of meeting the most noted woman in
Sweden.
History of the Emancipation
of Women
By H. C. Singer, of Lethbridge, Canada
To woman it would seem that nothing is insurmountable, in-
accessible, or unattainable. The barriers that confronted woman
through the ages were numerous and gigantic, but to them not
insurmountable. Education seemed to them inaccessible, and
political status of equality with man, unattainable; and because
these aspects seemed so, they were doomed finally to be rolled
away. Not in a day, a year, nor in a generation, but in centuries
yet to pass. No great strides were made during the hectic days of
womens' hard fought revolution ; but when the dust of the conflict
had died down, out of the echoes of the blows struck came recog-
nition to be given, and the first faltering steps of progress were
achieved.
Forces That Held Women in Subjection
It is surprising when one casts his view back over the scenes
of centuries of history, to perceive how civil law, church dogma,
and tradition-breeding superstitution, have held woman in leash.
Those into whose hands were placed the keys of refined education,
and the replenishing of the world's population after war, disease
and famine, were but chattels in the eyes of the law. Woman
was the outcast, the breeder, before the Church ; and but the spine-
less, the ignorant, the evil and the inferior, in the shady mind of
tradition. It is not surprising that the progress was slow ; the
real surprise is that it started at all.
When Women Began to Rise
The rebellion of woman was bound to come. Flourishing
Greece trembled at the first concerted women's movement lasting
two centuries ; and fast on its heels followed another in Rome.
The former was for a political status ; the latter, to gain some
opportunity for education with political aims in the background.
Before the young Jewish enthusiast was born in Bethlehem, woman
had made two bold attempts to throw off the injustices put upon
her sex and had thronged the Forum in Rome, picketing its
entrances to petition their cause, much to the consternation of the
Consuls. Success attended their efforts ; and man, ever generous
but condescending, paid them tribute by Cato the Elder, in an
immortal oration, that praised the zeal but failed to sense the
significance of the cause.
THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN 149
The Chivalry of Jesus
Came a young man from the East with a philosophy of equal-
ity, that could forgive even an adulteress. He commended in
woman all virtues, admired her faith and charity, and uprooted
the rank weeds of superstition. But he did not live to die old ; for
the choice was not Jesus the Christ, but Barrabas. Christianity
overspread western Europe, but instead of unchaining women, it
added temporarily to their fetters; for it bore with it the bitter
view that because woman had been the instrument of original sin,
penitence and obedience to the stronger sex were her portion in
life.
Women Freed First in Italy
Centuries passed, with women still fighting for learning. As
the Italian Renaissance flowered, the women of Italy developed
also. Too swift to endure, success came. The Latin countries of
France, Spain, and Portugal followed the example of Italy.
Women stepped into the seats of learning, teaching in universities
while men sat as students in the classes. Poets and authors, and
doctors of medicine they became; and into the labyrinths of law
they penetrated, till from their efforts in this latter sphere,
rings down the ages the oration on "Mercy" by a real or fancied
Portia. Were she but a conception of man, still his instrument was
a woman, ana in Italy, where woman's emergence had begun, these
tributes to woman arose.
Women Renowned in Fine Arts
In those times queens were renowned for their learning, were
patrons of art, swaying for decades literature and painting. Con-
vents for women and girls yielded forth educators and Mother
Superiors noted for unusual talents as well as for piety. Long
before Luther burnt the Papal bull, came the first whisperings of
rebellion against the unacceptable edicts of the Church from a
Mother Superior. Let those who doubt read of St. Theresa.
The Universities Reactionary
Such success, however, was too rapid to endure. One by one
the universities closed their doors to women, and by the end of the
golden days of Renaissance, women stood on the steps of univer-
sities, knocking vainly for admission. From the very university
where women had taught, the University of Bologna, the Faculty
in 1377 sent forth the decree that impaled women again on the
cross of superstition, erecting barriers against her that seemed
permanent : "And whereas woman was the foundation of sin, the
weapon of the devil, the cause of man's banishment from Paradise ;
and whereas, for these reasons all association with her is to be
diligently avoided, therefore do we interdict and expressly forbid
that any one presume to introduce in the said college any woman
150 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
whatsoever, however honorable she may be ; and if anyone should
perpetrate such an act, he shall be severely punished." Thus, from
seats of learning, went forth the excluding edicts, which govern-
ments during the days of Catholicism rigidly enforced. Leaders
of the Reformation held similar views. Under Protestantism, as
well as under Catholicism, women were barred from entering uni-
versities in the quest for learning.
Woman in Early America
The New World, which was to boast of liberty and equality,
was discovered by a man for man's advantage. Although the
discovery was financed with the jewels of a woman, Isabella of
Castille; and on its soil women fought a never-ceasing battle in
the quest for learning, out of the country that framed the Magna
Charta and the Bill of Rights, England, came echoes of a conflict
made by the Women's Right movement, echoes that rumbled on
the shores of America during the days of the American Revolution.
Colonists from the old country brought the controversy with them,
and here it gained in strength and purpose.
When Boston Took the Lead
Since the early days, when the first settlers had built schools,
the debate regarding female education had waxe# strong; but
ground was gained steadily by its supporters, although the subjects
of instruction were very limited. In 1826 Boston opened a high
school for boys and girls, on equal terms, but closed it two years
later amidst the barrage of disapproval that was showered upon it.
Then the girls too were permitted to study during the summer
months only, when the boys were on the farms. Not until the
college of Oberlin in 1853 opened its doors for both sexes, black
and white, did the insurmountable barriers begin to collapse, and
women again began to study and instruct. Oberlin was the first
college to open its doors to women since the Church had closed
them during the days of the Renaissance.
Woman Fought Slavery and Alcohol
When the early rumblings of coming war against slavery and
alcohol were heard in America, women began the real fight. So
insistent became the demands, to be seen and heard, that the oppo-
sition in genuine fright began an organized fight in the press, from
the pulpit, and on street corners against the predicted invasion of
women into the more masculine spheres of activity. Gradually
women began their research into the law to seek reforms, and found
that much of their opposition to women existed in custom only.
Where it existed in law, such as in property rights, wages, guard-
ianship of children, civil rights and voting powers, they came to
the conclusion that the only means of redress lay in the vote.
THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN 151
To clear from the statute books old laws that denied them
equal rights with man and to prevent the enactment of further fool-
ish laws, became the objective and the platform that was to be
their fighting ground for nearly three-quarters of a century.
Days of Leadership by Women
Then came the days of real leadership, under Lucretia Mott,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Mrs. Sarah McClintock. Together
they drew up the program of women's rights, began to organize
in earnest. From their first convention held in 1848, Mrs. John
Stuart Mill gathered her material that became the guiding hand
in the wide organized endeavors of English women. Faster the
campaign moved them nearer the goal in America, but faster yet in
England. The long years of campaign are records of ignorance,
bigotry, Church hostility, and the efforts of certain vested interests
to support the opposition to the equality of women with men.
The World War Brought Equality
The years of the World War threw men and women together
on an equal economic footing which, in all lands, welded together
the ranks of women in patriotic endeavors. The freedom they
attained during those hectic years gave them the taste of power
that could be theirs. On the heels of peace, during the prevailing
spirit of democracy, the nations of the world began to enfranchise
women. Starting in 1918 in Europe, among the nations emerging
from the War, it was not until August, 1920, that the women of
America realized their aim in the political field — woman suffrage.
The success they have had since the franchise, and how they
have used it, constitutes another story ; but that they will exercise
it to prevent tampering with the sanctity of the home, by certain
interests, that they will aspire to abolish war, to foster education,
and to make better conditions for labor and common living, cannot
be disputed.
And is the battle over? Is earth yet as heaven? To woman
nothing is unattainable, inaccessible, or insurmountable.
The Magazine extends its congratulations to Judge Florence
Allen, formerly a native of Salt Lake City, on her recent reelec-
tion to the Supreme Bench of the State of Ohio. Miss Allen was
reelected by a very flattering majority.
Notes from the Field
Reorganisations.
Within the new year two of the stakes have reported re-
organizations in the Relief Society. On January 13, 1929, Presi-
dent Esther Thomas, at her own request, was honorably released
as president of the Woodruff stake, this action being taken owing
to the illness of her husband. Mrs. Harriett Spencer was made
president, Mrs. Esther Warburton, first counselor, and Mrs.
Isabel Johnson, second counselor ; Violet Gerrard was retained as
secretary-treasurer. These sisters constitute the new executive
officers of the Woodruff stake. They are experienced Relief
Society workers, and trained leaders.
While the news did not reach the office until the new year,
the reorganization of Young stake actually occurred on December
9, 1928, when Mrs. Johanna S. Smith was released as president.
Mrs. Smith's release was due to the fact that she would be away.
She has given many years of service to the Relief Society cause.
Mrs. L. Nettie Behrman was sustained as president, with Nellie
D. Carter first counselor, Matilda T. McGee second counselor,
and May B. Brady, secretary-treasurer. We congraturate these
sisters upon their call to leadership. We feel that they will rise
most efficiently to their duties.
Reports of the following successful and practical class leaders'
conventions have been received :
Wasatch Stake.
At Heber, on November 3, 1928, a class leaders' convention
was held in Wasatch stake under the direction of the three stake
class leaders. A delightful session was held. There were about
80 ward workers in attendance, including all the officers from
presidents to Magazine agents. Dr. Amos M. Merrill and Mrs.
Stella Rich, from the Brigham Young University at Provo, gave
lectures with demonstrations of better teaching methods. Musical
numbers were furnished by the Charleston and Heber choirs.
A splendid display of work suggestive of what may be done in
the Work and Business Meetings of the Relief Society was ar-
ranged. At noon a luncheon was served by the stake board
members.
Granite Stake
This stake also is stressing not only subscriptions to the Mag-
azine, but its very general use. At the last Union Meeting special
attention was given to this matter. The sisters were urged to use
the Magazine in all its departments. The following slogan was
adopted: "Read the Magazine from cover to cover, and repeat
the reading of each lesson before the day on which the lesson is
given."
Guide Lessons for May
LESSON I
Practical Religion and Testimony
(First Week in May)
INDUSTRY
Some Introductory Statements
1. Industry and civilization advance abreast on parallel lines.
2. Worklessness and worthlessness are close companions.
3. The two universal inquiries:
What shall I do to be saved?
What shal! I do to make a living?
4. The joy of earning is second only to the joy of giving.
5. The highest form of charity is employment.
6. Industry is more than activity ; it is activity directed to-
ward productive ends.
7. We are instinctively active and intentionally industrious.
8. The activity urge may be a good self-starter, but it reT
quires a duty-spur to keep us going.
9. Habits of industry in one direction aid in industrial
achievements in another. The honor student is usually
industrious at home.
10. Industry is the offspring of duty. It is published that the
gypsy language contains no such word as duty.*
11. Idleness, ill-will, and ignorance, are three disgraces.
12. The abundance of our spiritual life depends upon the
quality of our religious industry.
Selecting a Vocation
Passing from the indispensability of industry, we come face
to face with the problem of selecting our field of work. The
selection is known as choosing a vocation. In making this choice,
some careful considerations are of the utmost importance. The
major question, What shall I do to make a living? should be fol-
lowed by these minor inquiries :
1. Is this vocation honorable?
2. Is it healthful?
3. Does it offer opportunities for advancement ?
* American Magazine, February, 1929.
154 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
4. Is it sufficiently compensative for current needs and pos-
sible saving?
5. Does it provide consistently for some leisure?
6. Is it within the range of any of my aptitudes?
All vocations that are helpful to the human family are honor-
able, and all industry that is hurtful to the race is listed in the
book of fate as unfit to survive.
The greatest pnysical wealth of this world is health. There
is truth in the aphorism that "He who needs health needs every-
thing." In this day of sanitary safeguards, unhealthful vocations
are not often found ; but individual differences suggest that what
might be healful for one person might be unhealthful for another.
Some people wilt in the sunshine of out-door labor, and others
fade in the shade of in-door employment.
A vocation that makes man nothing more than a cog in a
machine is to be shunned as a field where petrification of per-
sonality is certain. One must have the privilege of looking up-
ward, with the possibility of climbing to the place of "more room."
Vocations that offer nothing more than a "hand-to-mouth"
compensation are safe to shun. The impossibility of "laying
something by" deadens the spirit of thrift essential to industrial
hope and happiness.
This is an age of almost excessive leisure ; and industry has
no little trouble to keep free from the interference of recreation.
Captains of industry have demonstrated that recreation is one
of its best allies, that leisure is one of labor's best friends. In the
light of these two facts the great industries are fostering spare
time activities in the form of athletic contests and avocational
enjoyment. A vocation is indispensable for making a living; an
avocation is desirable for enjoyment of leisure. Vocation and
avocation are two main tributaries to the stream of abundant life.
The closer the vocation and the aptitude of the individual,
the more joy-giving will be his or her vocational success. Out of
a considerable number of definitions of success given by prom-
inent men of our country, the following is accorded first place :
"Success consists in doing what you like to do in such a way
that you will not have to do something else to make a living."
No little of the grumble part of life is due to vocational
misfits or industrial conflict in the life of the individual, and we
are looking to the mental-test field for help in lessening this un-
equal yoking of work and worker.
The Psychological Corporation of New York City, has
been signally successful in finding out where persons may succeed.
The record made by this organization so inspired confidence in
this scientific method of forecasting possibilities that a certificate
of ability is taking the place of tedious tryouts and painful
elimination.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 155
Child Labor
It is an open question as to what extent children should be
permitted to labor.
The general trend of public opinion seems to be in the direc-
tion of less labor and more supervised leisure for the child. This
attitude is the outgrowth mainly of an oppressive and over-exact-
ing treatment of children in factories, and of putting the products
of child labor in competition with the output of adult labor. There
is good ground, however, for believing that child labor in kind
and quantity suited to the age and ability of the children would
be decidedly preferable to closing the doors of industry against
them. Surely the child is as well suited to some light work as it is
to strenuous play.
Women in Industry
This is a problem of intense and world-wide interest. Freedom
of "say" naturally calls for freedom of "do." Franchise equality
becomes the forerunner of a claim for the industrial equality of
women and men. One point in the controversy is fairly well
settled, that of equal pay for equal work; but the question of
equal opportunity for employment is under debate from the fire-
side to national legislative halls. The problem finds place in
college classes ; it blazes from books, rings from the lecture plat-
form, and radiates from the daily press. As to the race benefits,
the merits of its claims, time only can decide; but the nearby
outcome of the issue is unmistakably indicated by the following
findings of the Women's Bureau of Information (U. S. Depart-
ment of Labor) published in the Book Folder for No. 5:
"Facts"
"The United States has over 8,500,000 women gainfully em-
ployed, more than one^fifth of them in manufacturing and me-
chanical industries.
"All but 35 of the 572 occupations listed by the Census employ
women.
"One in every 5 wage earners is a woman.
"One in every 5 women is a wage earner.
"One in every 4 wage-earning women is married.
"One in every 11 married women is a wage earner.
"One in every 5 wage-earning women is under 20 years of
age ; 1 in every 5 or 6 is more than 44 years of age.
"One in every 7 or 8 is foreign born ; 1 in every 5 or 6
is a negro.
"The majority of women workers, both married and single,
contribute to the support of others, their earnings being an im-
^ Dortant factor in the family budget."
156 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
In this industrial avalanche the greatest danger signal is the
possibility of having the home swept from the mother-love founda-
tion, upon which it was first built and on which it has rested from
the beginning. There is the fear that as women enter the field of
industry, their incomparable profitableness as makers of men will
be deflected to that of less value — the making of money.
The safety sign concerning industrial freedom for women
reads, "The nature of the bird fastens it to its brood. There is
no need of keeping its wings clipped to prevent its deserting the
nest."
Industry and Education
The prophet, sage, and pioneer, said — "Education is the
power to think, the power to act, and the power to appreciate."
This definition includes the use of head, hand, and heart. In
founding the University which bears his name, he specified that
the school give opportunity for industry.
Among the most up-to-date ideas concerning college degrees
is the 'thought that the document shall specify the vocational
efficiency of the graduates or that it shall be supplemented by a
special certificate of the holder's fitness for making a living.
Industry Wage Standards
The price of labor, like that of commodities, has been deter-
mined by supply and demand ; and this basis of standardization
still prevails in most countries. In our republic, however, the
wage standard is coming to be the cost of living ; not the cost of
existence, but the cost of respectable living.
Many applicants for one position have no effect on the salary.
Employers who underpay and employers who underbid for work
face a fierce taboo.
The Religious Aspect
Industry is an outstanding characteristic of divinity. The
creation was the result of the labor of the gods. (See Gen. 1
and Book of Abraham, 4.) "Six days shalt thou labor."
The whole life of the Savior was an object lesson in industry.
One of the climaxes of his teaching was "Work\jh\\t it is yet day."
His was the vocation of a teacher and in it He never tired.
Paul's estimate of the idler is expressed in I Timothy, 5 :8.
Modern revelations declare :
"Woe unto you poor men * * * who will not labor with
your hands." (Doc. and Co v. 56:17).
"The idler shall be held in remembrance before the Lord."
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 157
(Doc. and Cov. 68:30). The complete text makes plain that
the remembrance is to be an unfavorable one.
"Now I the Lord am not well pleased with Zion, for there are
idlers among them." (Doc. and Cov. 68:31).
"He that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garment
of the laborer." (Doc. and Cov. 42:42).
"The idler shall not have place in the Church, except he
repent and mend his ways." (Doc. and Cov. 75:29).
This last declaration makes voluntary idleness a sin.
Questions and Problems
1. Distinguish between activity and industry.
2. Discuss the joy-value of earning.
3. Explain the difference between a vocation and an avocation.
4. Give the six points of vital consideration in choosing a
vocation.
5. Which is better, to have wages based on supply and demand
or on standards of living ? Giving reasons for answer.
6. Explain briefly the problem of "equal rights in industry."
7. Give some of the most valuable findings quoted in this
lesson of the U. S. Women's Bureau concerning women in the
industries.
8. Show wherein Brigham Young was a pioneer for industrial
education.
9. Comment upon the harmony between statement twelve in
this lesson and the scripture "Do the works and ye shall know of
the doctrine."
10. With praying as the first and work for the dead as the
last, mention as many activities as you can that go to make up
Latter-day Saint religious industry.
11. To what extent is the following in harmony with your
desires :
May life eternal be my share
To work in my Redeemer's care
With, those I love eternal joy,
Progressive work in God's employ.
jtf^L.
EXs»
r^<^^^<^y"
158 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LESSON II
Work and Business
(This topic to be given at the special teachers' meeting the
first week in May)
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR MAY— ACTIVITIES OF THE
RELIEF SOCIETY
Why the Lessons in Social Service?
I. To disseminate knowledge which will promote the well-
being of children.
II. To give reliable information regarding children, so that
one may know "what is wheat and what is chaff" in our
present day knowledge of the nature, well-being and edu-
cation of children.
III. To show how to interpret and apply to childhood and youth
the results of study, experiments and investigation of
recent years regarding the needs of childhood and youth
physically, intellectually and morally.
IV. To help mothers to lay the proper foundation for the develop-
ment of their children — for the fashioning of their intellects,
the moulding of their characters and the influencing of their
physical growth.
V. To help mothers to understand their children.
VI. To help mothers to better understand themselves and the
effect their own reaction has upon their children.
VII. To show the importance of the closest cooperation between
parents and children.
MY CHILD
By Merling Clyde
Dreamer mine,
Thoughts that are thine
Echo back to my heart,
Bringing peace,
Sweet joys release —
Life's journey soon you'll start.
Near or far,
Where e'er you are,
Our souls can never part.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 159
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in May)
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN
By Louis N. Parker
"Joseph and His Brethren/' by Louis N. Parker, was produced
both in New York and in London in 1913. This play is not a
problem play. It is a pageant play, and as presented in His
Majesty's Theatre in London under the able management of Sir
Herbert Tree gave to us a pageant of Bible history that has seldom
been equalled. We shall present the play where Joseph's brethren
are discussing their father's seeming favoritism for Joseph. The
two factions are just coming to blows when Reuben finds his way
through and says :
Reuben: Peace — peace, I say! — I, Reuben, the eldest-born
speak !
All: (Falling apart, and with respect) Reuben!!
Reuben: (Sternly) Are ye the brood of Cain, that each
would have his brother's blood, on the day our Father Jacob hath
set apart as a day of rejoicing?
Judah : Twice have I heard the day named as a day of re-
joicing. What is the day?
Reuben: Have ye forgotten? Today Rachel's eldest-born
cometh to manhood.
Judah : Joseph !
All : Joseph ! — The dreamer — The upstart !
Reuben : I know now what new thing ye are banded in against
Joseph ; but I bid you beware. Our father loveth him as the apple
of his eye. Today, ere we go to our flocks, he is to endue him
with the robe of manhood. Tonight, when our labor is done, there
is to be great feasting. Bring no sorrow into our father's house
today. Moreover, Joseph hath dreamed a dream —
Gad : (With a mocking laugh) That is no new thing !
Reuben: (Sternly) Bridle thy tongue — for when did Joseph's
dreams not come true? And now he dreamed we were binding
corn in the fields, and, lo, his sheaf arose and stood upright, and,
behold, our sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to his
sheaf.
We now move to the wells of Dothan. The word has come
to the brothers that a caravan is approaching from the East and
they are making ready to spread their wares for sale. Each is
proclaiming the virtue of his wares.
Zebulum : I have nought but melons.
Joseph : Surely, you will not give the weary strangers the
milk and the melons without price. Our father, Jacob —
160 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Simeon : Said I not he came as a spy ?
Judah : But thou, Simeon, wherefore layest thou thy store
where the strangers may not see it ?
Simeon : Ho ! Wilt thou teach me to barter ? I tell thee, these
will be first seen. And when the strangers say, what are these?
I shall answer, These be gifts for my sweet brother, Joseph.
Joseph : Why, then, I'll take my gifts now ; and thank thee !
Simeon : Fool ! Thinkest thou I mean what I say ?
Joseph : Can a man say one thing, and mean another ?
This controversy over the sale of goods furnishes the excuse
for the brethren to pounce upon Joseph and place him in the well.
Simeon describes this well by saying that "this pit is deep, and
there are evil things within it. The sides are smooth, and we
have no rope. If he fell in, by mischance — he could not crawl out,
nor could we have him out ; and ere we fetched help, the things
in its depth would have made help of no avail."
Finally the caravan arrives and in it is the Lady Zuleika.
She has been purchased that she may become the wife of Phar-
aoh's general, the Lord Potiphar. When Judah hears this he
says : "The lady Zuleika — I have heard strange tales of her
beauty — and her wisdom."
Zuleika is very much taken up with the wares of the brothers
and exclaims : Buy all their wares at their own price.
Joseph's voice is heard from the pit in a sort of chant.
The Lord my God ; the Almighty God,
He shall lift me out of the mire.
Judah: (Starting) What is that?
Dan : It is Joseph ! He is alive !
Issacher: If the strangers hear him — !
Joseph's voice :
They digged a pit for me and cast me in.
But I shall arise and confound them,
For my God is the only God,
The gods of the strangers are stocks and stones :
But my God is Almighty !
Zuleika's Voice: (Angrily) Who mocketh at my gods?
Who singeth of a God that is greater than mine?
Ani : (Who has come to the dried well and is peering into it)
There is one in the well —
Zuleika's Voice : Have him come forth !
Ani : He standeth among serpents —
Zuleika's Voice: He standeth among serpents? Have him
forth quickly! '
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 161
Zuleika's Voice: He mocketh at my gods. Strip him and
slay him !
Heru : Well said ! At last we shall have sport for our money.
Judah: (Angrily) Ye cannot slay the lad!
Joseph: (Calmly) Ye cannot slay me.
Heru: Can we not? (To a slave) Show him the knife.
Joseph: God will deliver me, for He is not a lying God as
yours are —
Zuleika's Voice : Slay him ! — I will wash my hands in his
blood.
Heru: (To slave) Make ready.
Judah: See how he faces them!
Levi: (Veiling his face) I cannot look upon this.
Zuleika's Voice: Wait! — I would see!
When Zuleika sees him she becomes so deeply enthralled by
his beauty that she says: Lo! I sought a gift to bring to my
lord Potiphar, and I found nought. Here is what I sought. Thou,
buy this lad of his brothers, and I will give him to my lord to be his
slave.
Then we go back to Jacob's tent where they are assembling to
celebrate the fact that Joseph has come of age.
Judah : Father, thy blessing !
Jacob : Where is Joseph ?
Judah : Where should he be, but safe in thy keeping ?
Jacob : I sent him to see whether all was well with you.
Again Jacob says: Why tarrieth Joseph? — And Reuben? —
where is my first-born?
Rachel cries to Simeon : Son of Leah, where is my child ?
Levi : Behold, father, the maids and men grow impatient.
Jacob: Can we begin without Reuben and Joseph?
Levi : They will be here anon.
Jacob : Begin, then ; but I am troubled.
As the festivities go on Jacob pays tribute to Rachel.
Jacob :
For, lo ! I stood by the well at mid-day,
And Rachel came thither with Laban's sheep ;
And when I beheld her, I loved her.
I served Laban seven years for Rachel :
Seven years of my life I gave for Rachel :
And Laban gave me Leah to wife.
Leah was tender-eyed:
But Rachel was beautiful and well-favored,
And yet another seven years I served Laban for Rachel.
And Rachel was my wife, and I loved her.
But Rachel bare me no son.
Other sons I had, but my beloved was not their mother.
162 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Then God remembered Rachel
And she bare a son and called his name Joseph.
And tonight we are gathered to do him honor,
To do him honor whom I love with uttermost love,
For he is come to man's estate.
I made him a coat of many colors,
To be for a sign of his dignity :
Red for courage, and azure for wisdom,
Green for prayer, and white for purity.
And all his brethren are here with gifts ;
And ye are here with your songs and dances —
But Joseph tarries — Joseph is in the storm —
(He drops the harp, and stands with extended arms)
Joseph ! Joseph ! my beloved ! Where art thou ?
(With a hideous rattle of metal rings the curtains at the back
are torn asunder. There is a blinding and prolonged quiver of
lightning, and in it, fierce and terrible, stands Reuben. All turn
to him with a gasp of horror.)
Reuben: (Holding up the coat of many colors) This have
I found ; know now whether it be thy son's coat or no !
(Jacob reaches for it with inarticulate cries, and falls for-
ward on his face. There is a terrible crash of thunder and sudden
pitch darkness. A great wail of mourning is heard, and the curtain
falls.)
In a later scene we have Joseph asking to go forth to war
with Potiphar. Potiphar has promised Joseph his freedom on his
return from war but says : Now, Joseph, I crave a boon.
Joseph : My Lord — ! Do with me as thou wilt.
Potiphar : Fighters I have as the sands of the desert, but no
friend I love as I love thee ! Ah ! thou shalt lose nought by grant-
ing my request. Lo ! I make thee lord of my household while I
am at the war, and whatever is mine I put in thy charge. Maidens
and men, ye hear?
Heru: We hear and obey.
Potiphar : But chiefest, I commit to thy keeping the lady
Zuleika. Joseph — Joseph — watch over her as though thou wert
myself.
Joseph : As thou leavest her, my lord, so shalt thou find her.
While Potiphar is away the famous temptation occurs. Before
Zuleika matures her plans a charming little scene takes place
between Joseph and Asenath, his sweetheart.
Asenath : Thou holdest me afar off.
Joseph: Let me speak of serious things.
Asenath : Is not love a serious thing ?
Joseph: It is of love I speak.
Asenath: I cannot hear thee so far away.
Joseph : I cannot speak when thou art nearer.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 163
Asenath: Oh, speak quickly, then.
Joseph: Tomorrow at dawn my lord returneth, and I shall
be free. My first errand will be to thy father.
Asenath is hardly out of the way when Wakara, the handmaid
of Zuleika appears, and the following conversation occurs :
Wakara : Joseph — Joseph !
Joseph: Who calleth.
Wakara: Tis I — Wakara.
Joseph : What is thine errand ?
Wakara: The lady Zuleika hath news of my lord V return.
Joseph: I sent her the news.
Wakara: She biddeth thee come to her, to tell her more.
Joseph : There is no more to tell.
Wakara: She commandeth thee to come.
Joseph : Tell thy mistress I am on guard. I may not come.
Wakara : Thy mistress commandeth thee, her slave.
Joseph : Not hers, but her husband's. I will not come.
Wakara : I cannot carry so rough an answer.
Joseph : Speak it gently ; I have no other.
Zuleika having failed with her first message sends Wakara
with another. When she was leaving Joseph after her first errand,
she came across some persons who were plotting against Pharaoh's
life. Zuleika catches at this point and sends a message that
brings Joseph.
Joseph : My lord made me overseer of his house. I rest
neither by day nor by night.
Zuleika : I know thy zeal for thy lord. I ask why thou
scornest me?
Joseph: I hold my lord's wife in highest honor. Tell me
now what thou hadst me hither to tell me?
Zuleika: Had I ought to tell thee?
Joseph: And Wakara said my lord Potiphar was in danger.
Zuleika: Wakara was dreaming.
Joseph : Is that not true ? Then I take my leave.
Zuleika: Wait. There was another matter. But I cannot
remember.
Joseph: My lord's return?
Zuleika: Ay, perchance.
Joseph : All is ready.
Zuleika: Ay — thou hast toiled by day and night. Take
this ring for reward.
Joseph: (Refusing it) I need no reward.
Zuleika : So proud and scornful — yet a slave ?
Joseph : Forgive me. Farewell.
Zuleika: Nay, I am not angered. Nay, thou shalt not go.
Art thou not in some sort mine ? I saved thee from horrible death.
Joseph : I have not forgotten.
164 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Joseph : That touch — ! Where else have I felt it ?
Zuleika: Thy lips are parched —
Joseph : I thirst ! — I thirst !
Zuleika : Drink — beloved !
(She bends over him and kisses him long on the lips. Sud-
denly, with a cry of intense horror, he breaks away from her.)
Joseph : The serpent's kiss ! Hah ! Now I remember ! Thy
sinuous limbs — I saw them in the well! Thy shimmering hair —
so the serpents shone as they writhed ! — Thy flaming eyes — so
theirs flamed in the darkness ! — Thy fingers about my throat — so
they coiled about me !
Zuleika : Beloved, thou art frenzied !
Joseph : Ay, and my frenzy hath dragged me to shame ! How
can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ?
Zuleika : What is thy God to me ? I cling to thee ! I clutch
thee !
Joseph : Farewell !
(He dashes out. Zuleika is on her knees clutching the cloak
he has left in her hand. After a moment's stupor she rises to her
full height. She raises her hands, grasping the cloak in her left
hand and her dagger in her right, to the goddess.)
Zuleika : Smite him, thou ! Slay him ! Art thou a goddess
and canst not blast him? (With a sudden revulsion she clasps the
cloak to her breast) Nay! I love thee! I love thee! (She
sinks on the couch in a frenzy, and stabs and slashes the cloak
with her dagger.) I would this were thy heart! I would I had
let thee rot in thy well! — (Another change) Thy lips! Thy lips!
(She presses the cloak frantically to her lips.)
Potiphar comes back and proclaims Joseph a free man. He
is in the midst of bestowing other rewards for all of his careful
work when Zuleika, almost hysterical, presents Joseph's outer gar-
ment as proof of her claim that he has insulted her. Zuleika ac-
complishes her malicious design and Joseph is cast into prison.
While there he wins the friendship of the keeper, becomes
acquainted with the chief butler and chief baker, and learns why
they were cast into prison.
Imhotep : I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter
of it.
Joseph : Do not interpretations belong to God ? Tell me thy
dream, I pray thee.
Imhotep : In my dream, behold, a vine was before me ; and in
the vine were three branches : and it was as though it budded, and
her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth
ripe grapes: and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the
grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup
into Pharaoh's hand.
Joseph : This is the interpretation of it : The branches are
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 163
three days : yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head,
and restore thee unto thy place : and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's
cup into his hand after the former manner when thou wast his
butler.
Imhotep : Oh, friend, thou hast filled my heart with joy !
Joseph : But think of me when it shall be well with thee, and
show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me
unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was
stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews ; and here also I have
done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
Imhotep : By thy God and my gods I swear, not a day shall
pass, but I will have thee forth with great honor.
Serseru : My Lord — the interpretation was good — I also
have dreamed — give me comfort.
Joseph : Conscience alone can give comfort ; but speak.
Serseru : I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three
white baskets on my head ; and in the uppermost basket there was
all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh ; and the birds did eat them
out of the basket upon my head.
Joseph : This is the interpretation thereof : The three baskets
are three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine
head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree ; and the birds
shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
Then we have the meeting of Pharaoh and the wise men.
Pharaoh : Are the priests and sages here as T commanded ?
Tehuti : O, King, they await thy word.
The priests and sages are unable to interpret Pharaoh's dream
and Imhotep recalls the fact that Joseph interpreted the dreams of
himself and the baker correctly. Joseph is called for and Pharaoh
relates his dream.
Pharaoh: In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of
the river ; and there came out of the water seven kine, fat-fleshed
and well-favored ; and they fed in a meadow ; and, behold, seven
other kine came up after them ; poor and very ill-favored and lean-
fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness :
and the lean and the ill-favored kine did eat up the first seven fat
kine ; and when they had eaten them up it could not be known that
they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the be-
ginning. So I woke.
Pharaoh : And I saw in my dream ; and, behold, seven ears
came up in one stalk, full and good ; and, behold, seven ears, with-
ered, thin, and blasted with the east-wind, sprung up after them :
and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears ! And I told this
unto the magicians: but there was none that could declare it
unto me.
Joseph: God hath shewed Pharaoh what He is about to do.
The seven good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are
166 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
seven years : the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill-favored
kine that came up after them are seven years ; and the seven empty
ears blasted with the wind shah be seven years of famine. This
is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh : what God is about
to do He sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years
of great plenty throughout the land of Egypt. — And then shall
arise after them seven years of famine ; and all the plenty shall be
forgotten in the land of Egypt ; and the famine shall consume the
land ; and the plenty shall not be remembered in the land by reason
of that famine following ; for it shall be very grievous. And for
that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice it is because the
thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass !
Joseph having been tested completely before the court and
not found wanting is rewarded by Pharaoh.
Pharaoh : Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there
is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my
house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled ;
only in the throne will I be greater than thou. Joseph art thou no
more, but I will call thee Zaphenath Paneth, the prince of the
days to be. See ! I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
1 iow the knee !
All : Hail, prince of life !
Then follows the scene of the brothers with their father,
Jacob, in Palestine.
Reuben : The food we brought out of Egypt is all spent.
Asher : My children, and my children's children clamor for
bread.
Reuben : It is the curse of God for the evil we did unto
Joseph.
Levi : Now we must go down to Egypt a second time.
Serah sings in the wilderness.
Serah :
I sit alone in the. wilderness,
My children are perishing around me
Mother, mother, they cry,
We hunger, we are a-thrist,
Cry not to me, O children,
Cry to the captain of Israel!
As for me, I am dried up ;
My heart-strings are rent asunder,
Even as I rend the strings of my harp !
Jacob : Who singeth ? Is it thou, Serah, daughter of Asher ?
Serah : Father, it is I ! My child is dying !
Jacob : Joseph, my beloved, is dead ; and Simeon is a captive
in a strange land.
Serah : But we, the living, are an-hungered.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 167
Reuben : All the seed of Israel will surely perish.
Jacob : Go again ; buy us a little food.
Judah : The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye
shall not see my face, except your brother, Benjamin, be with you.
Jacob: Me have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not.
and Simeon is not, and ye will take away Benjamin, whom his
mother died in bearing : all these things are against me.
Reuben: Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee.
Jacob : Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man
whether ye had yet a brother?
Levi : The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our
kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye another
brother ?
Issachar : Could we certainly know that he would say, Bring
your brother down?
Gad : The man knew all things : for though the city hath
ten gates ; and we went in, each of us by a separate gate, yet he
knew all our going and coming.
Zebulum : He is called the Revealer of Secrets.
Judah : Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go ; that
we may live, and not die, both we and thou, and our little ones.
Serah : Israel ! Israel !
Judah : I will be surity for him ; of my hand shalt thou
require him. If I bring him not unto thee, and set him before
thee, then let me bear the blame forever. For except we had
lingered, surely now wre had returned this second time.
Jacob : God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that
he may send away your brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved,
! am bereaved.
Joseph prepares to meet his brethren. The door on the left
is thrown open. Finally Joseph introduces his brothers to the
crowd. Asenath, his wife, comes forward bringing Joseph's little
sons, and Simeon and Benjamin.
Joseph : Behold ! These are my brethren from the Land of
Canaan. Shew them like honor as ye shew unto me !
Reuben: Now must we hasten to Canaan to tell our father
the great news.
Joseph : Nay, but ye shall abide here, and send for your wives
and your little ones ; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Judah: Our father yearneth for Benjamin — and for thee also
he hath grieved all the years that thou was lost.
Joseph : Throw wide the gates !
(All the enclosure at the back is removed. The gardens are
full of an excited throng. Through the crowd comes a procession
of Canaanites, men, women, and children ; in their midst, Jacob,
borne on a litter high on the shoulders of eight bearers. Joseph
awaits the entrance of the litter, with Manasseh on his left hand and
168 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Ephraim on his right. Asenath stands a little behind, all with
their backs to the audience. The Brethren, at the sight of Jacob,
have cried : "Jac0D ! Our father ! Israel !" and have made room
for Joseph and his group to stand alone. The litter is set down,
being so built that when it is on the ground Jacob is very nearly
upright.
Joseph: Great Israel! Behold thy son! (He rushes to his
father's arms.)
Jacob: Now let me die, since I have seen thy face! (He
rises with out-stretched arms, inspired.) Joseph is a fruitful
bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall; the archers
have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and persecuted him ; but
his bough abode in strength and the arms of his hands were made
strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, even by the God
of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall
bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the breast
and of the womb. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above
the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the ever-
lasting hills ; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown
of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
(All stretch their arms out to him in the soft afterglow of the
sunset.)
Joseph : He raiseth the poor from the dust ; from the depths
He lifted up the needy. Oh, Lord of Hosts, happy is the man
who trusteth in Thee!
Problems of the Play
This play has no problem such as the other plays have. It is,
however, an excellent example of the triumph of good over evil.
It also brings into bold relief a righteous man who many centuries
ago believed in a single standard of morality. The story of Joseph
is conceded by our best critics to be one of the greatest stories in all
literature.
Questions
1. Which one of the brothers does Parker use as a villain?
2. Do you think this story has been enriched by following the
Bible narrative as closely as it is followed? If so, tell why.
3. Discuss the lines that the author puts into the mouth of
Rachel. Does he make her say the thing she would be likely to say?
4. Comment upon methods of trial and punishment in ancient
times and in our own day.
5. Compare Zuleika with Lucretia Borgia. (See poem "Lu-
cretia Borgia's Feast," page 481, September, 1928, Relief Society
Magazine.)
GUIDE LESSONS FOR APRIL 169
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in May)
THE CHILD-STUDY COURSE
Lesson 14. Adolescence.
(Based on Chapter 15, "The Child, His Nature and His Needs.")
In this chapter we come to grips with the age-old problem
of adolescence. The material summarized for us here is a digest
of the rich experience of Dr. Winfield Scott Hall, formerly of
the Northwestern University Medical School and a frequent con-
tributor to the literature of the adolescent period, its problems,
regime and hygiene.
The materials presented by Dr. Hall in this chapter are
sufficiently clear and comprehensive from the standpoint of medi-
cine and traditional psychology, so that we shall not attempt here
in this lesson outline, any elaboration. We shall, in the following
paragraphs, call attention to some important yet neglected phases
of the subject. This is done by way of supplementing the material
contained in the book.
Some Neglected Phages of Adolescence
Most analyses of this period of human growth deal with
the physical and the so-called psychological characteristics, only.
The authorities on the subject have limited themselves to a
description of such things as changes in height, weight, voice, the
sudden maturing of the so-called social instincts, the rise of
sex consciousness and what Dr. Hall in this chapter calls "re-
ciprocal sex behavior." Students of the subject seem to have
limited themselves unconsciously to an analysis of the physical and
mental changes which are quite apparent during this period. The
point is that few, if any, studies are available showing the changed
social situations that affect adolescents at different periods of time.
Assuming that our problem here is to explain and therefore
control the behavior of adolescence in the year of grace, 1929 ;
and assuming that behavior is a result, not merely of the capacity
of the human organism for response, but also of the nature of
the stimulus, it follows logically that we must take account of
all those external (social) influences which "condition" (i. e.,
modify) the responses of the individual.
Environment Must Be Considered
Let us consider an analogy from the physical world. All of
our readers have undoubtedly heard of the simple experiment in
physics from which it appears that if two objects of different
weights — say a stone and a feather — are allowed to drop through
a vacuum they will fall at the same rate and reach the ground
170 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
together. Yet under ordinary conditions — due to the resistance
of the air — the stone falls faster and reaches the ground sooner
than the feather. What is the meaning of this fact? Just this:
that to account for the behavior of any object, we must take into
consideration not only the nature and quality of the object, but
also the nature and quality of the medium or environment in
and through which the object behaves. The inference for be-
havior-study is probably clear, viz., that if we would understand
human behavior, we must understand not merely the physical and
mental structure of the human being (i. e., its capacity for response
or behavior), but also the nature and quality of the environment
and the outside stimuli which evoke, condition, and therefore
modify the responses of the human being.
Stated concretely, this means that in order to understand
adolescence, or any other period of life, one must also take into
account the nature and quality of the world or environment of the
individual. It is not enough, for example, to discover that during
adolescence the boy's heart increases rapidly in size, that he
suddenly becomes awkward, self-conscious ; lacking polish and
social grace, etc. We must take into account and understand the
influence of current ideas, customs, folkways, conventions, etc.,
which permeate his social world during the time he is growing up
and is stepping, so to speak, on the threshold of adulthood.
Youth Adopts the Behavior of Others
It is not these sudden physical and mental changes from
childhood to adulthood, detailed by Dr. Hall and others, which
give parents the chief concern for adolescence today. As a matter
of fact, parents are usually prepared for these rapid physical and
mental changes. What present-day parents are most disturbed
about, however, is the ease with which youth nowadays adopts
the social and moral behavior-patterns of so-called alien groups.
Take the concrete example of smoking. What gives most "Mor-
mon" parents concern in this matter is that in spite of good home-
training, hours of devotion to Sunday School work, etc., their
children — many of them — smoke with impunity. The same thing
might be said about intoxicating beverages. Why is it? Is it
because adolescence is a period of natural perverseness ? Is it
because the home, the Church, and the school have failed in their
duty to teach the harmfulness of these and other habits or "ways"
of life? Or is it largely due to the powerful — unusually powerful
— nature of the social patterns which prevail in the environment
of adolescents today? It is our opinion that the so-called way-
wardness, moral laxity, and alleged perverseness of modern youth
is due primarily to this last-named situation.
Conditions Are Rapidly Changing
Two things of importance might be said on this point further.
In the first place there never has been in the history of the world
such a shuffling, such an intermixture of cultural and moral stand-
GUIDE LESSONS EOR APRIL 171
ards, as exists in American life today. The recency of this inter-
mixture will be appreciated when one is reminded that within the
memory of most of our readers, our social order — particularly in
the Church — was once characterized by a homogeniety and a single-
ness of pattern which amounted almost to an insulation against the
inroads of the behavior and moral patterns of the "outsider."
In the second place, many of the things which modern youth
are presumably addicted to are defined as wrong by their parents,
but are, in their own minds, at least, merely innocuous folkways.
Take, for instance, the current use of cosmetics. The majority
of adolescent girls today use cosmetics in some form or other.
If, however, the adolescent girl thirty years ago had used cosmetics
as freely as does her daughter today, she would have been regarded
as "fast" and more or less immoral, for the simple reason that,
as a general rule, only the "fast" and immoral girl (except, of
course, people of the stage) used cosmetics, and parents today
are unconsciously applying the attitude of thirty years ago to
the situation as it exists in 1929. The same thing might be said
in the case of cigarette smoking. The young man, and certainly
the young woman, who, thirty years ago, used cigarettes, stamped
himself (or herself) as a member of a liberal, Bohemian, or even
risque class.
The New Freedom* of Youth
But since cigarette smoking has been popularized and ex-
tended— due, by the way, to modern business methods — it is
incorrect to assume that the use of the cigarette today is as
immoral as it was a generation ago.
This simple fact, unfortunately, constitutes a serious stum-
bling block to our well-intentioned efforts to deal with youth in
the modern world ; we unconsciously apply to youth today the
moral standards of a generation or so ago. They will not work.
It seems not too much to say, therefore, that a most fruitful
field for further inquiry, in any attempt to understand and con-
structively motivate the adolescent of today, is the realm of these
economic and socio-psychological forces. (This is not meant to
depreciate, at all, the importance of the physical and mental
characteristics of adolescence.)
For the Further Stimulation of Thought
1. What are the distinguishing characteristics of pre-ado-
lescence, adolescence, and adulthood?
2. When should a boy and a girl normally reach puberty?
3. Should pre-adolescent children be put in the same grade
as older adolescents ? Why ? or why not ?
4. Is it possible that children adopt vulgar sex expressions
because of our failure to provide them with the correct and dig-
nified terms for anatomical parts and bodily processes?
172 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
5. What does Dr. Hall mean by the "wood-and- water-loving
period of pre-adolescence ?"
6. When should sex instruction begin? By whom should it
be given?
7. Why is it wrong to attempt to control self-abuse in the
child by "threatening" him with insanity?
8. Is it possible that many adolescents go to extremes in the
use of tobacco, liquor, etc., in order merely to assert their in-
dependence of their parents?
9. Is it wiser to keep adolescent boys and girls from smok-
ing, drinking, etc., by not letting them see smoking or drinking
in others (or reading or hearing cigarette advertisements) for
instance, or by developing within them a certain moral immunity,
so that they might live in a world of cigarettes, liquor, and other
harmful things, yet still be immune to their influence?
10. To what extent can a community, even a state, resist
or control the tremendous influence of the economic forces which
are at work in American life today? Does it not seem necessary
or feasible, in order to counteract these modern tendencies, to
employ the same ingenuity and resourcefulness Sn promoting
"the 'Mormon' way of life" that is now employed in launching
a new brand of cigarette, for example?
A Reverie
I am a child,
And all is spring
Birds and butterflies awing ;
All in nature seem to sing
For happiness.
The scene is changed ;
The time is June.
The roses bud and burst in bloom ;
Sweet fragrance bathes the silver moon
And lovers dream.
The dream's come true;
The harvest's come !
The ripened fields ; the happy home !
Serenely calm 'neath heaven's dome,
Smiles Autumn time.
Winter and age —
But 'neath their shroud
Rest flowers, the birds, the bees, the crowd.
All nature in sweet sleep is bowed
Waiting for Spring.
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.Elder Orson F. Whitney 176
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What it Means to Understand Religion . . .
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the Church 185
Retrospect Lula Greene Richards 186
The Ugly Duckling. .Estelle Webb Thomas 187
Easter Thoughts Elsie E. Barrett 191
Elvira Lathrop Fay Ollerton 192
Pioneers Lais V. Hales 204
Books 206
Notes* from the Field 210
Guide Lessons for June 214
Hills Christie Lund 229
April Susan T. Jennings 230
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Room 20 Bishop's Bldg. Salt Lake City, Utah
$1.00 a Year— Single Copy, 10c
Foreign, $1.25 a Year— 15c Single Copy
Entered as second-class matter at the
Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Phone Wasatch 3123
VOL. XVI
APRIL, 1929
NO. 4
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI APRIL, 1929 No. 4
My Ideal
Third Poem to Receive Honorable Mention in the Eliza Roxey
Snow Poetry Contest
By Mrs. Elsie Par ton, New South Wales, Australia
No canyon grand or mountain peak,
Bright flow ry dell, or willowed creek,
No eerie scene where fairies bathe
'Neath mossy banks in forest glade
Holds my ideal.
It is not held in silver note
Of music sweet, from singer's throat.
Nor setting sun, whose crimson hue
Splashes like blood the western blue,
Holds my ideal.
But wrinkled cheek, once bright and red,
Now pale and worn, its bloom long fled,
Dear toil-worn hands, once smooth and white.
That always guided me aright —
Holds my ideal.
Battered with time and years of care,
With faltering step and silver hair;
Deep-furrowed brow o'er eyes that shine
With tender love as they meet mine —
Holds my ideal.
Earth's greatest heroes pass away ;
Kingdoms vanish in a day ;
l>ut high where nothing can compare
My mother stands exalted there,
As my ideal.
The Letter and the Spirit
By Elder Orson F. Whitney, of the Council of the Twelve
"The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."—! Cor. 3 :6.
How prone we are, when studying the Scriptures or other
sacred teachings, to tie ourselves down to the letter of what
has been written or spoken, regarding too little the Spirit
that indited it and is alone capable of interpreting or making
it plain. "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard," says Paul —
referring of course to the natural eye, the natural ear, and the
inability of such organs to see or hear heavenly things. "But,"
adds the Apostle, "God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God."
As an example of the letter requiring interpretation by
the Spirit, let us first consider this passage from Genesis :
"So God created man in his own image; in the image of God
created He him; male and female created He them." (Gen.
1 :27.)
To the casual reader this might imply that God is both
male and female — a bi-sexual being. But we know better, hav-
ing been correctly taught. We know that God is "an exalted
Man" who "sits enthroned in yonder heavens." (I quote from
the Prophet Joseph Smith.) The male, not the female of the
human species, is in the image or likeness of the Eternal
Father. But,
"In the heavens are parents single?
No ; the thought makes reason stare.
Truth is reason — truth eternal
Tells me I've a Mother there."
So says the poet-prophetess, Eliza R. Snow, in her im-
mortal invocation to the Eternal Father and Mother. What is
that glorious hymn but an example of the Spirit interpreting
the Letter? — the Spirit of Truth — the "secret something" that
whispered to her of her heavenly origin.
It was in the image or likeness of the Eternal Mother
that woman was created. The Creator was speaking of man
in the generic sense — mankind — when He said, "Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness." "The man is not with-
out the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord."
Wedded, they are as one, the two together constituting the
unit of the race.
A too rigid adherence to the letter of the Mosaic Law,
THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT 177
and a bigoted contempt for the Gospel or Higher Law, caused
the Pharisees and Sadducees to reject the Messiah. They
professed to revere Moses and the Prophets, but being without
the Spirit that illumines and gives life to the letter, they failed
to see clearly the meaning of the Mosaic Code and the Book
of Prophecy. For instance, they thought it a sin to do any
work on the Sabbath day, and found fault with the Savior
for healing the sick on that day. "The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath," He told them, and further
confounded and angered them by declaring: "It is lawful to
do good on the Sabbath day," — meaning, of course, if neces-
sary, as when food is prepared "in singleness of heart," to
sustain the body while keeping the Sabbath or otherwise
worshiping the Lord. To paraphrase His own illustration :
If an ox has fallen into the ditch and needs instant help, it is
lawful to extend that help, even though it be on the Sabbath day.
These and like teachings, reflecting the highest wisdom
and the soundest common sense, sealed the doom of the sinless
Son of God. His enemies invoked the letter of the law against
the One who had given that law ages before, and because He,
by the Spirit, now taught a higher law — the time being ripe
for it — He was condemned and crucified.
Next, let us take the case of the Christian Church in the
early centuries after the age of the Apostles, when uninspired
teachers, aiming to interpret the letter without the Spirit, led
the flock astray. Among other things, they misinterpreted
the Eucharist or Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. "Eat — this
is my body." "Drink — this is my blood." So the Savior is
represented as saying of the bread and wine blessed by Him
and given to his Apostles on the night before his crucifixion.
But is it a true translation? When Jesus introduced the same
ordinance among the Nephites He was more explicit, saying
"This shall ye do in remembrance of my body" and "in re-
membrance of my blood which I have shed for you." (Book
of Mormon — 3 Nephi 18:7-11.) A clearer idea of the Sacra-
ment and its purpose is thus given.
But suppose He did say to the Apostles : "This is my
body and my blood"? The Spirit that was in them fcade
plain the Master's meaning. He could not have meant that
the bread was indeed his body, or the wine his blood ; for his
body was then intact, unbroken — He was speaking to them
out of it. And his blood was in his veins, yet unspilt. His
true disciples, in all ages, when partaking of the Sacrament
worthily, receive of his Spirit, which is the food of their spirits,
the power by which they grow and become strong. But they
do not chew his flesh nor drink his blood. If He really said,
"This is my body, — this is my blood," it was only a short way
178 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of saying what He intended. He was not speaking literally;
He was using a metaphor, an implied comparison, a common
custom with Orientals.
But after the Apostles had departed, and uninspired lead-
ers arose, the opposite or literal view was taken, and by their
faulty interpretation millions of souls have been misled. We
can and should respect their sincerity, but we cannot accept
or approve their doctrine. It is always right to be sincere,
but sincerity is not always right.
Another case in point. John the Apostle wrote, or is
supposed to have written: "No man hath seen God at any
time." (John 1 :18.) How are we to understand that, granting
it to be a correct translation ? — for we are under no obligation
to believe even the Bible except in-so-far as it has been
translated correctly. Did not Adam see God? Did not Enoch
walk with God? Did not Jehovah appear to Abraham? Did
not Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the Elders
of Israel go up into the mountain and see the God of Israel?
The Bible says so, and modern revelation confirms it. Did not
the Apostles see Jesus Christ, in whom "dwelt the fulness of
the Godhead bodily?" Was He not "the Word that was God"
and was "made flesh" and dwelt among them, that they might
see Him? John himself declares it (John 1 :1, 14) ; and yet is
made to say, in the very same connection, "No man hath seen
God at any time."
What then ? Shall we cling to the letter of that one state-
ment, and ignore all that went before it, both history and
doctrine ? Why, it would tear out the foundations of the Chris-
tion religion. It would blot out all the Gospel dispensations
and destroy every hope of salvation. No, let us put life into
the dead letter, and make it read as it ought to read. And how
ought it to read? Moses virtually decides the question in
saying :
"Now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my
natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not
have beheld ; for I should have withered and died in his pres-
ence • but his glory was upon me ; and I beheld his face, for I
wastransfigured before him." (Pearl of Great Price — Moses
1:11.)
Thus the wrinkle is smoothed out. "No man" — with his
natural eyes — "hath seen God at any time." Or, as our own
revered Prophet puts it : "No man hath seen God at any time
in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God" (Doc. and
Cov. 67:11) — which means precisely the same thing.
In Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" Shylock demands
the literal fulfillment of the bond that Antonio has forfeited,
and insists upon his "pound of flesh, to be by him cut off near-
THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT 179
est the merchant's heart." Portia, pleading for Antonio, en-
treats the Jew to be merciful. ''Upon what compulsion must
I?" he asks. Then Portia:
"The quality of mercy is not strain'd :
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice bless'd ;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes ;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice."
This plea, so sublime in letter and in spirit, having failed
to melt the hard-hearted money-lender, Portia next reads into
the bloodthirsty bond an interpretation so literal that it com-
pletely baffles the cruel and vindictive schemer, takes him in
his own snare, and rescues the merchant from his peril. It
was a triumph of letter over letter, one might say. But it was
also a triumph of the Spirit.
There are times, however, when the Letter almost crowds
the Spirit off the platform. Here is an instance. A pious
father was taking to task his little son for uncharity ; the boy
having angrily expressed himself over some wrong, real or
fancied, done him by another. "You shouldn't talk that way
about your little playmate," said the father, "haven't you
thought how you might heap coals of fire on his head ?" "No,"
said the boy, "I hadn't thought of it, but it's a peach of an
idea." The young Shylock!
Many things are implied that are not expressed ; what is
told being suggestive and inclusive of the untold. In the
revelations of God given to the Church in these days, the
chewing or smoking of tobacco is inhibited ; but that does not
leave morphine unbanned. The "dope fiend" is also a breaker
of the Word of Wisdom. Again, the excessive or untimely
use of "the fowls of the air" for food, is discountenanced ; but
the fowls of the barnyard, though unmentioned, are not omit-
ted, but are included by implication. Gluttony is a vice, as
well as drunkenness, no matter what the gourmand gorges
himself upon. All excesses are hurtful to health, whether or
not they be "nominated in the bond." All are infractions of
divine law, the intent of which (as in human law) should
180 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
always be weighed and considered — not the letter alone.
In "seeking for wisdom out of the best of books," as we
have been commanded, we need the Holy Spirit as an inter-
preter, lest we blunder and go astray. The letter, alone, is an
insufficient guide. Like "faith without works," it is dead."
But the Spirit cannot err. The letter, with the conflicting
interpretations put upon it, is responsible for disputations and
contentions, against which we are solemnly warned. By the
letter we are divided. By the Spirit we see eye to eye, and
are made acceptable to Him who has said : "Except ye are
one, ye are not mine."
Le Printemps
(The Springtime)
By Brooks Kairn
I dipped with eager pen to write of spring
Then thought me of the cynic's grating words,
"How now, another poetaster bent
On gushing of the bumble-bee and birds ?"
"Write on !" a milder voice bade teasingly ;
"For poesy was born of such as this —
Of stream and tree — the morning's early glow,
Cold loam's awakening at Springtime's kiss.
Sing on with words to match the lark's clear note —
In lines full patterned to the bluebird's wing,
Imprison tulip's grace within your rhyme
And joy fulness of warbler's caroling.
Weave deftly golden strands of prismic light
In this, your tapestry. Let there be hint
Of brooklet's dashing play on mossy rocks —
The green of pristine leaf caught in Sol's glint.
Attune this theme you'd pen of brighter days
To fragrance of the dew-pearled mountain flower,
Blend carefully your verse to fleece-blown cloud
Revealed in cameo on turquoise bower.
All these, and more. String then your modest lyre ;
Seek out the kindred pipes of elfin Pan ;
Send forth this gladsome melody of Spring —
Rejoicing in a wise Creator's plan."
What it Means to Understand
Religion
By A. C. Lambert
"Until man becomes either a lotus-eater or a God he will
believe and pray and worship. So long as man remains man,
'who partly is and wholly hopes to be/ he will be incurably
religious."
So long as men refuse to turn their backs on the great
adventure of living; so long as men refuse to admit that fear
cowardice, and self-seeking can permanently dominate person-
ality ; so long as men refuse to turn their faces from the search
for good, which is found in the life of God revealed to men — ■
just so long will religion remain.
For religion is the way of spiritual self-fulfillment. It is
the way in which men find the ultimate significance of life's
practices and beliefs when life and the world are interpreted
as a whole. Though religion has been most variously defined,
its continuing reality as a human experience and an integral
part of human living must be recognized.
Demonstration of the validity of the fact of religious
experience comes through examination of the observable ex-
periences and practices of human beings. Demonstration of
the value of religious experiences is found in the feeling life of
innumerable human beings. Demonstration of the ultimate
truthfulness of religious doctrines and practices comes through
(1) acceptance by individuals and groups of revelations from
God, and pronouncements of those authorized to speak for
God, (2) recognition of their consistency with other accepted
truths empirically established, (3) recognition of their dem-
onstrated power to reconstruct human lives and human insti-
tutions in directions universally recognized as "better" and
good, and (4) their felt value to the individual. Any one of
the four methods gains strength when supplemented by all the
others.
The ultimate key to a real understanding of any religion
is to feel it. That means more than to secure a knowledge of
its doctrines, its theology, its ritual, its ethical and moral pre-
cepts, its ecclesiastical organization and machinery, its sacred
shrines and its temples ; for these, though inherently necessary,
are but the body of the religion, and not its life-blood; its
externals, not its reality.
A religion to be understood and to be appreciated as a
182 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
driving power to spiritual self-realization must, in some degree,
be experienced. Really to understand a religion one must
put himself in the place of the believers and practicers of
that religion. He must have been troubled as they have been
troubled. He must have struggled for spiritual light and
growth as they have struggled. He must have felt God's
presence as they have felt it. He must have risen through
belief from sin and despair as they have risen. He must have
suffered as they have suffered. He must have conquered as
they have conquered. Short of this, no one may adequately
understand a religious system or a great religious life.
But with understanding can come appreciation of religion
as a fundamental and natural expression of life. With under-
standing comes less bitterness in criticism of dogma and prac-
tice. With understanding comes more intelligent toleration
and cooperation between individuals whose creed, ritual, and
symbols take different forms.
Ultimately, truth is individual truth. Many truths of re-
ligion may be demonstrable truths ; and in order to be univer-
sally or generally accepted, they must be such truths. Em-
pirical method is one method of demonstrating truth, and it
has proved its value and place as an instrument and a creation
of human thought. But ultimately, truth in religion, like truth
in knowledge, is felt truth. Truth and knowledge come to be
demonstrated, accepted, and depended upon, by reason of the
general and continuing uniformity in the way human beings
think and feel about it. Let men not delude themselves in
thinking that they think beyond thought.
It is, therefore, perhaps true that much of religion must
remain sacredly intimate and individual. That fact need not
weaken the fundamental significance of religion as a general
human experience and a valuable possession for group preser-
vation. Rather it should make men think more deeply on their
own true selves, perchance to learn anew the worth of faith
in human life, perchance to learn again that truth itself has
many sides, that values have no meaning unless felt by human
souls, and that striving after God brings light and life and
hope, and in the end makes better men. In learning of all this,
we come more adequately to understand religion.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto' — Charity Never Faileih
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON - President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Miss Alice Louise Reynolds
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrg. Elise B. Alder
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Barbara Howell RichardsMrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edwards, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - - Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI APRIL, 1929 No. 4
EDITORIAL
The First Editor
On the 8th day of April, 1929, Lula Greene Richards will
commemorate her 80th birthday.
She was the first editor of the Woman's Exponent, and
the Magazine rejoices to be able to congratulate her at this
time. She began her editorial duties before her marriage and
continued them for a short time afterwards. Ever since the
day when she turned her work over to Emmeline B. Wells,
her writings have appeared in Church magazines.
The ability to do things artistic may develop in children
in different lines of art. This was true in the case of Robert
Browning and his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning who were
poets; their son is a sculptor. Mrs. Richards has sons with
literary ability, those who write both prose and poetry, but
perhaps her best known son is Lee Greene, a well known
painter, particularly of portraits.
We congratulate Mrs. Richards on the fact that her 80th
year finds her in reasonably good health, with exceptional men-
tal vigor for one of her advanced age ; also with an amount of
optimism that is truly refreshing. She has undoubtedly known
trials. One of her refinement could not escape suffering yet
she loves her fellow men, she loves her Father in Heaven, and
in this age of skepticism when everything is being questioned,
184 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
the Gospel lamp is the guide to her feet. She has joy in the
testimony of the divinity of Christ and the sure knowledge of
the Resurrection ; as, to use her own words, "she draws nearer
to the fullness of His peace."
The Seventieth Birthday of President
Clarissa S. Williams
The Magazine rejoices to be able to congratulate Presi-
dent Clarissa Smith Williams on her seventieth birthday, which
falls on the 21st day of April, 1929. On that day the hearts
of thousands will turn towards her in appreciation of her
kindly ministrations extending over a very active and useful
life. In the minds of those who know her best, memories,
sweet and precious will arise, evoking from the hearts of all
her friends tenderness and love. They will wish that, as the
days come and go, she may be a special charge of divine provi-
dence ; that her health may be good, her happiness secure, and
that, in the mercy of heaven, no good thing may be withheld
from her.
Showers, showers, of blessings we would call down upon
her. We commend her at all times to the loving care of the
Most High, who knows the righteousness of her heart and
what a benediction her life has been to all among whom she
has labored. May it be our Father's will to extend her life as
long as she finds joy and satisfaction therein, with her chil-
dren, her children's children, her many friends, and this good
earth upon which her lot has been serenely cast.
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Honored
The President's suite in the Hotel Utah was the scene of
another festive occasion on Wednesday, February 20th, when
a dinner was given to honor three Board Members, but partic-
ularly to take note of the services of Sister Jennie B. Knight,
first counselor to President Clarissa Smith Williams during
the period of her presidency and now a member of the General
Board. The committee consisted of Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter,
Mrs. Emma A. Empey and Mrs. Amy W. Evans. Corsage
bouquets were placed at the covers of Mrs. Jennie B. Knight,
Miss Alice L. Reynolds, and Mrs. Inez Knight Allen, in recog-
nition of the cordial welcome and hospitality extended to
Board Members during the recent Leadership Week held at
the Brigham Young University.
The dinner was arranged especially to give the Board
Members an opportunity to express appreciation to Sister
Knight. To this end, all the Board Members paid her tribute
EDITORIAL 185
and were exceedingly happy for the opportunity. Some did
it through the medium of stories which were part of Sister
Knight's history, and some through tributes to her sterling
qualities. The dinner was arranged by Mrs. Emma A. Empey
and presided over by President Louise Y. Robison. It was
an occasion of festive cheer and good will.
Mrs. Knight was presented with a book in a beautiful
leather cover resembling Roycroft work — a book that can be
used by her for her notes when she goes out to conventions or
on any occasion when she wishes to use it. The presentation
speech was made by Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter, who in fitting
words expressed the appreciation of the Board to Sister Knight
and their devotion to her.
The Centenary of the Organization of the Church
We are just one year from the centenary of the organization
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will be
the privilege of all organizations connected with the Church
during the next year to demonstrate what the output of this great
spiritual movement has been. This demonstration may be carried
on in many ways. Art is one of the mediums of expression : it
is possible to employ art in public addresses, poetry, essays,
dramas, music, painting, sculpture, pageantry, as well as in ex-
hibitions of scientific, industrial and economic achievements. This
year may be one of assembling and of arranging many things, to
the end that all shall be in readiness for the centenary in April,
1930. The Relief Society will have its place and in a variety of
ways be able to demonstrate and review the story of its growth and
achievements, establishing thereby its worth as a great welfare
organization.
Editor's Note
Mrs. Julina Green is the author of the poem, "A Reverie"
which was published in the March number of the Magazine. It is
regretted that her name did not appear with the poem, as its author.
Retrospect
Lula Greene Richards
Looking backward through the vista
Of both fair and cloudy weather,
Shades and sunshine are uncurtained,
All the. varied line along.
But with trusting hearts and faithful
As we love and work together,
So far the light and right have soared
Above the dark and wrong.
And instead of doleful dirges
Or a doubtful — which or whether —
Eighty years of life have proven
Like a cheery, helpful song.
Why? Because a little prayer to God
Is the earliest recollection.
My gratitude for parents such as mine can never cease.
Taught from infancy to prize and love
Christ's glorious resurrection —
My time of birth reminding
Causes reverence to increase.
Now my children and grand children
With their loyal, sweet affection
Crown my eighty snows and summers
With unmeasured joy and peace.
O — I thank Thee, Heavenly Father,
For continued blest protection —
And, withal, as often needed,
Thine unerring, kind correction —
Drawing me, Thy daughter, nearer
To a fullness of Thy peace.
The Ugly Duckling
By Estelle Webb Thomas
II.
December 25 — or 26 — 1 a. m. — Just slipped a bath-robe over
my night gown to keep from freezing, and a cap over my marcell
to keep from spoiling it (the things are expensive) , and am sitting
up in bed to write till I get sleepy, which time isn't far distant.
Quite an interesting Christmas day for a lone, lorn Ugly
Duckling !
After my light lunch, I put on my new tan suit, and made a
few calls as per schedule. Had several invitations to stay with
people, but declined them all as I want to rest and relax this
holiday and not be obliged to wear my pleasant expression all
the time — too much like school.
When I reached home in the early dusk, I found a funny old
creature camped on the front step, who said that she had been
over three times, and the last time "jest set down to wait till I did
come !" She brought a little note from Mrs. Douglas, next door,
saying that she was a good friend, though a recent one, of
mother's ; and as her son had told her that I was all alone in the
house, she,had taken the liberty of asking me to dine with them
this evening.
Mrs. Douglas proved to be a delightful old lady and put me
at my ease at once, especially as the son was not present at first.
As she made no reference to our little escapade, I presumed he
had not mentioned it. He came in from the street in a few minutes
and greeted me pleasantly but formally as the old servant came
in to announce dinner. They are the sort of people who can be
entertaining, and still make a guest feel interesting and at his
best, too. When dinner was over, Mrs. Douglas begged to be
excused, as she invariably retires immediately after dinner, and
she "was sure Donovan would do his best to entertain me." I
was surprised to see. "Donovan" unconcernedly lift the old lady
in his arms (I had noticed that she was very lame), and after
asking me to excuse him for a moment, walk calmly and easily
up the stairs with her. He was back immediately and suggested
that we "step out" as the evening was still young. So we saw
"Charlie's Aunt," played by a bunch of High School kids in
the H. S. Auditorium. Mr. Douglas suggested a dance after-
ward— there was one in progress at Daly's Movie Palace, but I
188 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
felt he had sufficiently atoned for his last evening's faux pas and
said I had rather go home. I preferred to walk too, for the
night was clear and starry and beautifully white with snow.
Mr. Douglas hesitated after he had said "Good-night," and
asked if I wouldn't let him start my fire before he left. I hadn't
intended having a fire, but no one will ever know how relieved I
was at having someone go in with me and turn on the lights.
Goodness knows, I'm not a coward ; but there's something about
going into a dark, empty house — ! Well, the upshot of it was,
that we passed a most interesting hour before the fire, with some
of mother's fruit-cake, and my home-smoked cocoa for refresh-
ment. When he finally left we had a good many side-lights on
each other's history and felt quite like old friends.
December 27 — Had lunch today with Sally Turner, who used
to be the class ninny, but who now has me bested by the pos-
session of a cute little house, a set of new furniture, and a
husband. This latter appeared to be sometihng she has picked up
at a bargain sale — cheap ; but she is satisfied, and fairly exuded
pity at my unattached state.
"You'll never know what happiness is, Daisy," she gushed,
till you have a loving husband and a dear little nest of your own."
I was trying to walk this off when I ran plump into Mr.
Douglas, hurrying along with a pre-occupied frown on his brow
and a suit-case in his hand.
"Why the savage expression?" he asked by way of greeting,
though I had not known I was showing my vexation so openly.
"Only an over-dose of the sunny side of life," I replied, trying
to look more amiable than I felt.
"Come with me and I'll give you a view of the seamy side,"
said my new friend, taking my arm and turning me gently about
as he spoke, "Only I'm late and in a pow'ful hurry, as Janet
says ; so if you don't mind we'll have a walking contest ! That
is," he added, "unless you have other plans."
I was curious about his "seamy side" of life until he ex-
plained that he is a doctor, newly arrived and trying to build up
a practice by unfailing interest and promptness.
As old Dr. Halley has no financial necessity for work and
has become so cross and crochety that people would almost rather
die by themselves than disturb his nights, I foresee a successful
future for young Dr. Douglas in our town and told him so. He
seemed pleased and told me he had had a chance to take over
his father's practice in a large Eastern town at the time of his
recent death, but had decided to come west for the sake of his
mother's failing health, and sincerely hoped he would be able
to make a "go" of it.
The Doctor's mother came too, and while he attended the "flu"
THE UGLY DUCKLING 189
patients to whom he had been making daily visits for a week,
though there was nothing in it for him but getting a practice
established, his mother explained, she descanted on the perfections
of her handsome son; much to his discomfiture, I could see, when
he caught the drift of her confidences. Running down presently
on the subject of Donovan, she began to ask me a few polite
questions. Mother and the professor called, and mother had
been in a number of times ; but they had been in town only two
months, and knew so few people? She asked about my sisters,
and my name.
"Margaret!" sne repeated, when I told her, "Why, that is
the name of the girl Donovan is going to marry! Do you hear
that, Don? You'll enjoy calling Miss Wallace Margaret, won't
you, dear?" I hastened to explain that I am always called Daisy;
and Mr. Douglas remarked a trifle dryly that he had hardly got
to the stage of calling me Margaret, yet.
As most of his visits were to flu patients and the doctor ad-
vised us to stay in the open air, I learned something of Margaret,
the fiance. She was the daughter of an old and valued friend,
and it had been the desire of Donovan's father's heart as well
as of Margaret's father that the two should eventually marry*.
The engagement had made Donovan's father very happy, coming
as it did during his last long illness, when he was worrying about
Don's future, and when Margaret was so kind and attentive to
the bed-fast old friend.
Don had been inclined to be a trifle wild — not bad, of course
— just gay and reckless ; but his father's death had sobered him
wonderfully and he had become as steady as his father himself,
and as thoughtful of her.
I rather hoped the doctor would come in when he brought
me home, but he very formally took his leave at the front door.
Perhaps the thought of the absent fiance is haunting him, and
he feels he shouldn't be so nice to every Ugly Duckling he meets.
I confess the absent Margaret rather spoiled the picture for me.
and I'm going straight to sleep and not weave a single romance
around a tall dark-eyed young doctor with an interesting name.
'January 1 — I threw the diary in a corner when I finished
writing last time and only resurrected and dusted it ofT again
tonight to finish recording this episode before going back to
school tomorrow. The day after my last entry the doctor was
called out of town, and didn't get back until last evening. I passed
several very dull days calling and receiving callers, dining with
friends and going to movies, and wishing heartily for the time to
come when I must go back to work. Janet came over to ask
me to dinner with Mrs. Douglas yesterday, and volunteered the
information that the doctor is gone and his mother was lonely, t
190 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
was really relieved that the doctor was away. I had thought he
was purposely avoiding me, and felt furiously angry at myself at
snapping up so eagerly the little crumbs of companionship he had
offered me, as if I never had had any attention before. But since
he was gone I could go to dinner with his mother without any
sacrifice of pride; so to please her I got myself up in my very
best bib and tucker and went over early, resolved to be as amusing
as possible and try to pay some of my debt of gratitude for their
kindness. But dinner was barely commenced when in walked
Dr. Douglas! How dreadful I felt! The conceited thing had
been so cool to me that last evening, and now to find me hanging
around his mother, as if waiting meekly for him to return, was
too provoking! I hurried home as soon as I decently could, but
the doctor insisted on coming with me, and seemed rather offended
when I refused to let him come in and make a fire.
I told him I was leaving on the six-thirty train, and intended
going straight to bed, and really enjoyed his unmistakable look of
disappointment. So that's the last of Dr. Donovan Douglas, so
far as I am concerned, and after tomorrow my contacts will be
with the Primary Department of the Green Valley school and
Mr. Dixon, principal of same.
January 5 — (Mrs. Lowell's Up-Stairs Left-Hand* Bedroom. —
Well, back again, ready to deal out knowledge in large doses to
my young hopefuls. Arrived cold and weary last evening at nine
o'clock in a veritable blizzard. Quite a price to pay for the
privilege of spending Christmas all by myself in a deserted house !
but that is unkind. The Douglases made it as pleasant as pos-
sible, and contrary to my last statement in my diary, I hadn't
seen the last of Dr. Douglas, on New Year's night.
When I came down the steps in the dim, gray early morn-
ing there stood the Doctor's car with the Doctor in it, waiting
to drive me to the station. I felt an over-whelming sense of
obligation and tried to tell him so, but he only smiled and replied
with a look in his handsome brown eyes that made me turn my
own away, that perhaps I could return the favor sometime. There
was no time for conversation for we were barely in time, but as
Dr. Douglas hurried me into the car and my suit-case after me, he
asked if he might write. So there's that to look forward to when
the children get too dumb, and life looks too drab.
'January 8 — One week of the second semester gone. The
children were little fiends after their week of merry-making, late
hours, and too much candy. I should have sent the whole room-
ful in to Mr. Dixon en masse, I was so provoked one afternoon,
if he had not looked so harassed with his own set of young ideas.
I have been so busy with my own private problems that Mr.
Dixon had failed to make much impression on me before; but
today I got to wondering what his story is — perhaps something
THE UGLY DUCKLING 191
interesting enough for one of my romances. For that's my secret
ambition. I'm trying to write — and making a sad failure so far.
I believe I might be able to accomplish something at it if my time
were my own, but if I get out of bed just teeming with bright
ideas the school-bell is sure to ring disgustingly early; and by
the time I am free again, every bit of inspiration has fled. Then
if I plan a quiet evening at my scribbling, Mrs. Lowell is sure
to get up some sort of "Do," and insist on "teacher" coming
down to be the life of the party. But I am not going to give up
till I find, like Joe, whether "genius burns" or not. Still, if I
devote all my spare time to this Journal, what is to become of my
"literary career?"
Haven't heard from "anybody" at home, but had a letter from
mother spying that Lisbeth is much better, and she and the
professor will be home in another week.
Easter Thoughts
Elsie E. Barrett
Glad Easter Morn'. Break forth in song !
Sing praises to your King!
The clouds of doubt have rolled away,
And death has lost its sting.
How soul-inspiring just to think
That Jesus died for me;
So wonderful to have the thought
That He'll provide for me;
That He has risen from the tomb
For such as I — robbed death of gloom.
O Jesus, help my faith to grow,
Help me to feel my debt;
Though I can never, never pay,
Help me, lest I forget.
Elvira Lathrop
By Fay Ollerton
Elvira Lathrop did not go back to the store that afternoon
before Thanksgiving. She hurried back and forth in her adobe
house with its lean-to, getting the rooms cleaned in preparation
for her absence tomorrow. Alone she still had the stooped gait
of a woman whose head had first leaned forward in expectancy,
then drooped with resentment, and later grown careless. She
was a spinster in a town of almost unanimously married women,
and she had grown to show a surface acceptance in her kindly
timid eyes of being the butt of Red Water's jokes on feminism.
The Co-op's superintendent, Hans Nielson, knew that the
next day was the yearly gathering of the Lathrop clan, and that
Elvira would value the extra time. He could, she realized, be
generous when it did not inconvenience him, and there would be
few customers that afternoon; they would be home cleaning
turkeys and chickens, baking pumpkin pies, and dusting rooms
only opened for great occasions.
"I feel like maybe you would want this afternoon to make a
potato cake," he teased, showing his yellow teeth.
She nodded back, pleased in spite of her dislike for the sleek
little superintendent. She did not like his patronizing smile;
every time he spoke she felt more poignantly than ever her thin
spinsterhood, now growing into its forties ; and her fight to retain
her self-expression in the little sage-brush town with its red
streets and its open contempt for any unwanted woman. Yet, she
was flattered about the potato cake. His mention showed that
the town recognized her supremacy in one line usually dedicated
to wearers of the ring.
Every person must have some reason for existing, outside of
the mere routine of eating and sleeping, something no matter
how small that he feels he can do better than his fellows, that
he can use as a barricade against the forces that would level him
with the rest of his creatures. Potato cake was Elvira's weapon
in Red Water's battle. No wedding supper, no pioneer day cele-
bration, canyon outing, or woodhauler's banquet was complete
without this cake. Not another woman in town could compete in
the rich, moist brownness and delectable flavor of her masterpiece.
Husbands invariably called for more. Often they turned to their
wives with : "Why can't you make cake like this ? I wish you'd
get Elviry's receipt."
And their failure to get the recipe was in no way due to their
lack of zeal. They had tried, after Elvira had first produced her
ELVIRA LATHROP 193
triumph, but ineffectually. All she told them was that a friend
of hers in Salt Lake had obtained the recipe from an English
aunt. The shy woman had found the sweet pleasure of excelling
and she guarded her secret well.
If Red Water's housekeepers had been more in touch with
the world that lay beyond their sagebrush trails and low, red
hills ; if they had subscribed for women's magazines now becoming
practical, or even bought cook books, they might have found a
potato cake recipe similar to Elvira's, but they went on handing
down cooking rules from mother to daughter, and exchanging
methods over back fences and at Relief Society quilting bees.
Some of the wives, spurred on by their husbands, had taken re-
course to experimentation ; their delvings into the realms of
science were sorry failures. Because their "menfolks" liked the
cake, they called for it on every occasion, and Elvira would come
home, her tight little heart that was carefully schooled against
emotion, warmed and expanded. At such times she would chat
brightly with her taciturn brother, Ward, who was a bachelor.
"You ought to have been there, Ward," she would say to the
tall, spare man sitting in front of the box stove with his stockinged
feet resting on the red checkered tablecloth ; "they had some right
nice speeches and music, and the supper was real good."
Ward would lift his somber eyes from the semi- weekly he
was all week reading to say in his halting voice: "I'm glad,
Elviry, that you enjoyed it," and relapse into silence again; but
he knew that someone had been exuberant in his praise of the cake.
It meant a great deal to his sister, this family reunion. Some
twenty years ago Elvira's skin had been smooth and clear and
faintly touched with pink; her light brown hair had curled over
her high forehead instead of being drawn back in its tight
grayness, and she had been in love with Eric Kelner, now married
to her cousin, Delia Lathrop. There had been no formal an-
nouncement; that was not Red Water's custom even now in the
beginning of the second decade, but the town had known there
was something serious between the two. Had he not taken Elvira
to Sunday night Mutuals for two years past, ever since she had
returned from the Academy at Provo, to care for her declining
mother ? And had he not been seen walking home from Lathrop's
on wintry days with books that Elvira had loaned him ? Summer
evenings, too, when the fragrance of freshly cut alfalfa and garden
flowers vied with the sage and rabbit brush for supremacy in the
breezes, they had gone buggy riding in the weedy and brush-lined
streets towards the meadows on the south, or to the East canyon.
And Elvira, who had been working in the Co-op store for a year,
was known to be putting away material for sheets and table-
cloths. This last alone would have been proof sufficient for any
194 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
town; and in Red Water no one left his back door ajar but the
neighbors knew the reason.
There had been hints among the friends~of the young couple
of a fall wedding; Bishop Bradford, dead these eight years, had
winked at Elvira after Sacrament services one Sunday, and told
her a recommend was waiting on his secretary. Perhaps the wed-
ding would have taken place at. October Conference, when the
town dignitaries and three or four pairs of nearly-weds rode in
their "white tops" to the nearest railway station to spend a week
in the city, dividing their time among the Temple grounds, the
State Fair, and the show houses, had it not been for Delia Lathrop.
Delia's father had been one of the few Lathrop men to move to
another part of the State, and his oldest daughter had returned for
a visit. She was plump, rosy-cheeked, dark and inviting of eye,
with a tongue that never failed of a beginning word, or a quick
retort. Against Delia's vitality and robust voice, Elvira had
shrunk into a pale and unobtrusive shadow whenever the two
cousins met in the round of summer dances and parties. The
quieter girl had not noticed Eric paying any particular attention
to Delia until the night of the Fourth dance. According to custom
the whole town, babies and grandfathers, were at the "opery
house," dressed in their best, and Delia was radiant in her tarlatan
gown, cut a little lower on the shoulders than the fashion of Red
Water permitted. She was much sought after, surrounded be-
tween dances, and never sitting once on the hard benches. Eric
had danced with her three times, and with Elvira watching had
taken her to Aunt Louisy Matson's place, where starchy ice cream
and home-made root beer were served on the porch and lawn.
From her seat against the wall, Elvira's cheeks had turned
from blanching to burning when she saw them return. It was a
direct insult, her young man leaving the dance hall with another
girl, and at the height of her timid rage, Elvira had left the dance
hall atone, and her lover in willing hands. Later she blamed Delia
entirely. How could gentle, awkward Eric, who had lived more
among the hills and books than with women, protect himself
from a bold girl with full, red lips and a powder dusted nose —
Aunt Sarah Lathrop, hostess to Delia, had whispered that damning
fact! And in her stupid pride, Elvira had continued to leave
-her lover with the visitor.
Not knowing how to forget, or to substitute, which is much
the same thing, Elvira had grown thin, gaunt-eyed, and more retir-
ing. She was already looking old when next spring Eric returned
with Delia from April Conference, and took her to live in his new
home. Elvira's present had lain alongside of the rest of the
Lathrop clan's, and several people remarked on the extravagance
of giving a linen tablecloth to a mere cousin. As time passed, it
pained her to see that Eric no longer had time to read, or to
ELVIRA LATHROP 195
think of the school plans they had talked about. He was a busy
man now, working his small farm, doing odd jobs of hauling
freight and loaning out himself and team to keep Delia supplied
with the silk dresses she demanded ; her pantry piled with ma-
terials for her bounteous table, and later providing for the regularly
increasing Kelnars. It did not heal Elvira's wound any to see
the ample Delia each year becoming more sharp tongued. She
felt too keenly for Eric, unnecessarily stooped and worried look-
ing, and she was growing thinner and worn herself.
Yet there were times when she could do something for her
old lover and she eagerly anticipated these occasions. There was
the annual birthday party for Aunt Sarah, now grown feeble,
the Lathrop weddings, the holidays with their interchange of
family dinners, and the Thanksgiving reunions, where Eric always
sought her for a few minutes of desultory talk, and ate pro-
digiously of her potato cake.
"No one," he often said, "can make such good cakes as you.
Elvira. I just wait for these dinners to come," and turning from
the glowing spinster to his wife, "Delia is a good cook, but her
cakes can't come up to these."
Elvira cherished these compliments, even though she knew
they were his futile attempts to cover old sorrow, and enjoyed
Delia's retort that, "she'd get that receipt or bust." The secret
was too much a part of the spinster's self ever to be disclosed now.
The coming family reunion was the one oasis in an otherwise
arid and disappointing year. Ward, a few years her senior, had
been more crippled with rheumatism than was his wont, and had
had a hard time harvesting his small crops and hauling in the
winter wood from the cedar and pine-covered hills. Wool had
shot down in price, until their tiny income from it would not
pay for the magazines Elvira subscribed for. The brother was
growing more dependent upon her : he had few pleasures, and it
had been years since he had mingled in the town activities other
than to attend Sacrament and Priesthood meetings.
To make matters worse, Elvira was having trouble with her
left leg.
"You're on it too much. You ought just to sit down and do
nothing else for months," old Dr. Dunn had told her. "If you
aren't careful, you'll have some serious trouble soon."
She knew, too, that Hans had seen her slight limp, and was
only waiting for some slacking in her work to take on a younger,
prettier girl.
"You're not so spry as you used to be, Elviry," he had said
only a few days ago. She knew he had in mind his wife's sister,
a strong young thing, and pretty in a blousy, coarse way, and who
wanted a chance to clerk ; but he would not dare to discharge the
older woman without some serious reason. The Lathrops were
196 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
too strong in the community; though they were letting their
stock in the co-operative store slip to enter other ventures.
Frightened, Elvira had worked when she should have been home
asleep. She wondered now as she scurried around in her low-
raftered, whitewashed kitchen and gathered her cake materials
about her, if Hans had given her the free half-day so that he
could report her inability to work full time.
Orderly as always, Elvira placed the ingredients in exact
amounts on her brown oilcloth tablecover, and started creaming
the butter and sugar. She had no more than begun her strokes
when a rap sounded on the kitchen door. Because her hands
were dusted with flour, she called, "Come in."
Panting and robust, Delia Kelner stood in the doorway, an
old brown coat thrown hurriedly over her pink gingham dress.
"Hello, Elviry," she called, loudly excited. "I saw your smoke
and knew you was home, because Ward is in the cattle pasture.
1 been waiting to tell you the news !"
"What news?" Elvira paused in her creaming. She knew
Delia's ways. She was more worried how she could get rid of
her cousin, or take her into the front room. The potato cake was
too much in evidence.
"What news is right, Elviry," the cousin declared, not a
whit dampened by the response. She seemed all the more pleased
for a chance to extend her climax. She opened her eyes in an
attempt to be mysterious, and sat down uninvited in Ward's con-
gress chair. Elvira waited, her hands fluttering helplessly about
her work.
As if she would burst if she contained her story longer,
Delia leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, "Esther's
home again, and she ain't alone ! She's got a fourth husband, and
they say," here the informant lowered her voice, screwed her eyes
into a semi-closing, "they say she's going to bring him to the
reunion tomorrow !"
She was not disappointed in her climax. Elvira dropped her
cake spoon, her eyes and mouth opened wide, and had to catch
her gold-rimmed spectacles with trembling hands. "Great Scot-
land !" was all she could say at first. The spinster was not given
to expletives.
Esther was a second cousin by marriage, the result of a Lath-
rop's mesalliance; she was the one unfettered spirit in a long
line of staid, emotion bound, and duty thinking citizens that made
up the family of Lathrop. Her first husband had died, and six
months after his funeral, she had married a young Lathrop who
was in the early stages of rebellion against the conventions of his
family. But, true to his heritage, he found life with the irre-
pressible Esther unbearable, and quietly divorced her after two
years of misery. Not daunted in any way, Esther had married
ELVIRA LATHROP 197
again; this time she did the divorcing herself, and in a day and
town where a woman divorced once had as well wear a scarlet
letter. Unable at last, to stand the town's and the Lathrop's
steady rebuffs, she had gone to a coast city. The mention of her
name was always a flagrant signal in Red Water, and her return
with a fourth would not diminish the gossip.
"When did she come?" the now thoroughly alert Elvira de-
manded of the righteous Delia.
Delia removed her coat, preparatory to a lengthy stay. "Why,
she come on the stage last night," she began in her high, dis-
cordant voice, her deep flesh glowing; while Elvira, all caution
forgotten, went on with her creaming, a high spot of color in her
sunken cheeks. It had been a long time since she had had a
chance to forget herself in a choice bit of gossip.
"Eric was up at the post office this morning, and they come
right in for their mail. She was just as brazen as anything, in-
troducing him right and left to her 'old friends.' Cousin Tom's
wife was there too, and Eric had only started telling me, when
she run in with more news. She said that Esther was bragging
she'd walk into the Lathrop reunion and give 'em the surprise of
their lives." Delia folded her lips into a pudgily tight line. She
was the essence of satisfied virtue. \
By the time she was through with all that she had heard
and surmised, the cakes were in the oven and the fire adjusted
to their needs. She arose still bristling with importance. I got
to be getting on. Old lady Henry's bedridden this week, and
I know she'd like to hear about Esther, and then I've got to get
home and get supper for Eric and the rest of the family. He's
been hauling hay to the cattle pens all day and he'll be hungrier
than the threshers." She took up her coat, this time taking care
to run her arms through the sleeves. The short November day
was fading into a gray evening and the air was chilly. "I'll be
seeing you at the Relief Hall when the womenfolks bring over
their vittles," she called good-naturedly from the back stoop, and
energetically waddled around the graveled path to the unpaved
sidewalk.
Elvira watched her from the front window, puzzled to see
the cousin turning towards home instead of Mrs. Henry's.
"I expect she's decided to let the old lady wait," she thought,
letting her eyes rest on the dried branches of the still trees. She
felt quite kindly towards Delia. Outwardly they had kept up
appearances, true to Lathrop traditions, but the old rancor had
kept them from becoming intimate in spite of their living but
two blocks apart.
Later, when the first glow of the gossip had worn off, and
she sat in the darkening twilight with the singing kettle, waiting
for Ward to return, she wondered if Esther's sudden appearance
198 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
would detract from the coming of her favorite cousin, John Lath-
rop. John was the son of Jedediah, the oldest member of the
clan, and had gone East, to New York, and become so noted in
his law profession that his name sometimes appeared in the
metropolitan papers. He had come all the way across the con-
tinent with his wife, whom none of the family had seen. The
cakes had baked without a flaw, and the little spinster was con-
tent in her anticipations.
Elvira was one of the first to meet at the Hall. She knew
that the women depended on her to help with the arrangements
and the cooking. They said she was right handy at fixing the
flowers — mostly potted plants — and telling the men where to put
the chairs and rugs ; then there was the paring of the vegetables,
making room for the turkeys, and the dishes, and she didn't have
any children to bother her. As she scurried around on her sore
leg, helping to place the horsehair sofas, the buttoned leather
lounges, and the nondescript rocking chairs, she could not forget
her cakes. Her pride in them was almost undecent. Each year
she tried to make a different icing. This time the smooth, white
surface had an "L" with flourishes in every direction. With that
"L" there could be no mistaking her cakes!
About one o'clock the families began to assemble. The older
ones and a few of the youngest had been to the Thanksgiving
services in the Meeting House. The Lathrops were a large and
important part of the town, and they all bore the marks of their
English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. In their number was Charles
K., bald and rotund, and president of the one bank. He drove
up in his car, the second one in the town, with instructions for
his son Frank to spare no gas when errands were to be run.
Then there was Ralph K., also of the older generation, who was
stake president and had invited both his counselors and their
families. Bishop Madsen had been invited, too, because David
Lathrop, just returned from a mission and newly married to Red
Water's belle, was his first aid. Lean and lanky Rod, standing
six foot two in his bare feet and more typical of the clan than
Charles, was there, looking as if the weight of his great sheep
herds was more than he could bear. And that was Howard, by
the door. Howard, was a younger one and taught school at the
State University. All the town was proud of Howard. Wasn't
that Ellen, the only business woman in the family, walking in
with her husband ? She lived in the capital city also. The wives
were noisily in evidence; mostly plump they were, except the
older Lathrop girls, flushed and energetic. The sunbrowned
husbands of the Lathrops stood about, abashed in their Sunday
clothes, for all the world as if they were not yet used to contact
with the powerful clan. There was no sign of Esther and her
fourth. The women glanced apprehensively at the door and
ELVIRA LATHROP 199
smiled disappointedly at each newcomer, but she was forgotten in
the coming of John.
John was the one Elvira had gone to the Academy with.
There was a hush over the laughing, back-slapping crowd at his
entrance, then a pleased little burst of welcome, and after that
everyone talking at once. With him was his New York wife,
whose accent they would never forgive, nor cease in their talk
about her stylish clothes. John was tall, distinguished, with the
straight Lathrop nose and dark hair. He had always had part of
the gracious dignity that was so evident now, and his pleasure
at being home was not feigned. She wanted to rush to him, but
her self-consciousness held her back. At one time he had been
her only confidant, and he knew of the plans she and Eric had
made : Eric was to live with the cousin, and Elvira was to supply
part of the slender cash needed at that time for an education.
Her cousin's sympathy — he was one of the few Lathrops who
could put his emotions into words, was the only help she had
accepted. She hated to have him see her a faded part of the
background, only made welcome because blood ties were no
slight thing; yet she had to speak to him some time. There he
was, smiling in her direction. She broke through the crowd, a
thin wisp of a gray cloud in a whole sky of spreading thick ones,
aware that her best silk dress was years behind the styles, and
that some of the younger Lathrops were snickering at her timid
stride.
She was the only unmarried woman in the lot, and after her
painful greeting with John was over, she retreated to the kitchen
to help with the salad, salt vegetables, baste turkeys, and count
silver. There was just one joyous thought — that when dessert
time came she would have her reward. Eric, with an awed smile,
was talking to John. She wondered, as she set the silver, what
the two had to say, and if the lank farmer regretted he had not
gone the path with the sophisticated lawyer.
Two tables, concocted of lumber and trestles, ran the length
of the long hall. Every Lathrop, large or small, was seated in
good natured confusion. Old Jed headed the table, and Ralph,
in his dignity as stake president, gave thanks. His prayer was
long and laden with platitudes, and there were unstifled yawns
from the set home from high school before it was finished. Elvira
and Ward were seated next to Delia and her sprawling family,
and near enough to hear John reminisce with the banker. The
two lone members ate with hearty appetites, their eyes opened
wide as if to retain the excitement and genial contact until a
quieter day. After the soup came turkey, roast pork and beef,
chicken smothered in flaky tan crust, salads and vegetables, with
the dried corn Lathrop women spent August days in preparing,
shivering jellies, pickles and yellow rolls, all shot with the lemon
200 RELIEE SOCIETY MAGAZINE
glow of the sun drifting through the newly washed Relief Society
curtains. For dessert there was squash pie, piled with whipped
cream, plum pudding, and heavily iced cakes, with a special treat
of bananas and grapes brought from Salt Lake by John.
Elvira was animated with pride when she saw her two cakes,
cut in small pieces, the "L" still visible, and topped with red ro'se
buds that had come from Provo only this morning. Eric's voice,
made content by the food and companionship, was heard asking
if he might have cake before pie or pudding. Happily flushed,
she pushed one of her platters his way. Before she could see
it reach its destination, John called to her from his seat near the
head. Something had reminded him of an experience at the
Academy and he wanted to share it with her.
"Do you know, Elvira," he half shouted above the buzz of
Lathrop talk, "that I saw the same Fanny Davis who had a room
at our place in Provo on Fifth Avenue a week ago."
Flattered, Elvira chatted back, anxious to know why Fanny
was in the East, but at the same time straining an ear for Eric's
comment. She hoped, too, that John would hear and take pieces
for him and his wife.
"She and her husband," John was explaining, his long, white
fingers stretched on the linen cloth, when she heard Eric addressing
the group at large.
"Yes sir," he was saying, "Delia beat Elvira at her own
game. She got the receipt to the potato cake, got it made, and
you'd better taste it before you go on to the pie."
In a daze Elvira looked at the chocolate mound disappearing
on Eric's plate, then back to her platter with its festive roses and
untouched pieces ; and back to Eric's proud gaze and Delia's
triumphant one. There could be no mistake ; in front of him was
a chocolate cake, on a platter not her own and dressed in brown
icing. Slowly the color receded from her face and the life from
her eyes. They became old and tired and she dared not lift them
from her plate. Her work-hardened fingers clutched at the
handkerchief in her lap — she wished the table had a leg she could
lay hold to ; but she wished more that she could disappear, under
the board table, into the kitchen, out the side path, or any place
just so she did not have to sit here and pretend to smile. The
relatives were talking and laughing now, asking Delia how she
managed to get the recipe.
Even before Delia began her willing explanation, Elvira
knew. It came to her in one clear picture how Delia had watched
every move in the cake making. "Fool!" she called herself, to
be caught that way. Anyone who knew anything about measure-
ments could tell from the array, and she had been slow in mixing
the batter ; slow while she listened to Delia gossip !
All props to her shrinking self were being torn from their
ELVIRA LATHROP 201
groundings, and in a few minutes she would be standing there
naked and quivering to face the ruthless Lathrops. Her face
was the color of wood ashes and her chin was beginning to tremble.
In an attempt to appear at ease she glanced around the table and
saw Eric, all the merriment gone from his face. His hands
fumbled with the bright silver, while his eyes beseeched her to
understand that his part in the downfall had been unwitting. He
had meant only to have a little joke. She felt sorry for him, but
she could not summon assurance to her eyes.
"And I," Delia went endlessly on, "didn't think of it till I
got out to the gate and started for old lady Henry's," ("Liar,"
Elvira wanted to scream. The cousin was not telling the whole
truth ; she had used the gossip as a pretext for coming when she
felt certain the cake was in the making) ; "and then the idea struck
me, and I rushed home. I got the thing made before Eric come
home for his supper, and I defy any of you to tell it from Elviry's
own. And what's more," she finished with intentioned malice,
"if any of you want the receipt, you can have it for the asking!"
In the laugh that followed, the spinster, regardless of ques-
tioning eyes, or knowing giggles, and the Lathrop tradition of
never disclosing feelings in public, slipped away from the table
and out of the nearest door. There were three blocks between the
Hall and her home, and she ran them without a coat in the thin,
cold November light. Few persons were on the street, but these
she did not see. Her aching leg was forgotten until a sharp
reminder from it stopped her near the gate.
Once home she slipped off her best dress, only half conscious
of a new rip in the carefully darned armhole. She started a fire
in the box stove of the sitting-room, and with elevated leg took
up her knitting; it always soothed her, and Ward wanted his
woolen socks for winter. As the needles clicked she wondered
if they had ceased talking and snickering over her sudden exit.
Soon it would be time for the men to go home for hurried chores,
and after that the program would change attractions. There would
be music, such as her starved ears seldom heard: Lizzie's oldest
daughter who was studying "voice" in Salt Lake would sing;
Hardy Jones, known all over the West for his violin playing",
would give repeated encores, and the Lathrop male quartette would
sing "Lucky Jim" and "Happy Days." After that would come
dancing, old-fashioned quadrilles and reels that Elvira would love
to have danced. Also there would be waltzes and fox trots and
two steps as a concession to the youngsters.
Yet she was glad that she was away from it all, the pitying
glances, the stinging wit, and the condescension of persons who
would be kind, "because poor Elviry, she's not got a soul but
Ward, and he's no more company than a sheep."
When she could knit no longer, she turned on the light to
202 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
read, but the pages blurred and her thoughts would revert to
the afternoon. Eyes on the red-checkered cloth, she rocked,
thinking, thinking.
Soon she might lose her place in the store, and that would
mean help from the relatives, maybe Eric and Delia.
"Never !" she hissed to the crackling fire. The shame of
Delia's disclosure came to her in hot waves, making her clench
her teeth and shudder. It was not the loss of the recipe that
troubled her so much now, it was the degradation of being laughed
at, made a joke before John and the clan assembled; and it was
Eric to whom she had given all fidelity who had bared the loss
of her pitiful secret. She was worse than Esau, for he at least
had received a meal. She felt a sickish feeling in the pit of her
stomach, but she sat there rocking.
If Ward had only not arranged with the Hansen boy to
milk the cow, she might have had something to do. But as the
twilight deepened the comfort of familiar things came to her :
The faded rag carpet, the walnut and marble mantle with the loud
ticking clock that had been hauled across the Plains, the homely
furniture made in the days of Red Water's co-operative manu-
facturing, and the looped curtains of Nottingham lace.
Past skill with the needle was recalled. "I do believe I could
pick it up again, if I have to quit my job. It would help my leg,
and Charles' wife is always after me to make her a dress." Once
the banker's wife came, others would find the way. Perhaps they
would compensate in part for the life and gayety she would miss
at the store. She'd be glad to get away from Hans anyway.
Clarity and peace were returning. Even if Ward did become
crippled, they cmld rent out the farm, and still have enough to
feed them.
When Ward came in after eleven o'clock, she was sitting
quietly, knitting. He was as inarticulate as ever, but as he awk-
wardly took the cane-bottomed rocker on the other side of the
box stove, his fumbling gestures betrayed his desire for words.
Twice in the same day she felt sorry for men. "Did you
have a nice time?" she asked, trying to keep the tremor out of
her voice that had sprung up at Ward's sympathy.
"Yes." He struggled to tell her how he had enjoyed the
old friends, the hours of forgetting himself. "Some of the girls
even asked me to dan&e a reel with them," he boasted de-
precatingly.
Elvira knew the sad figure he had cut, with his stiff legs,
long hair and rusty blue suit, but she only said, "I'm glad," and
tried to smile.
Stirring in his seat, Ward looked at her hopefully, then
relapsed into a tense silence. They sat there, she rocking, and
only the loud ticking of the clock, the roar of the newly stirred
ELVIRA LATHROP 203
fire disturbed them. Her eyes were suspiciously bright; her
thin lips closed like a vise.
"We ought to be getting to bed," Ward suggested, breathing
heavily, but neither moved.
Suddenly he sat erect in his chair. He relapsed again, but
the start had been made. "It was a mean trick of Delia's about
the cake/' he blurted out, the words tumbling over each other in
their unaccustomed speed. "There was a lot of people thought
the same, though they didn't say so at the table, because they was
afraid of her tongue. John's wife come right up to me and she
says, 'Tell your sister that was one of the most delicious cakes
I have ever eaten !' ' He was surer of himself now, a pride
entered his speech and a faint reminder of Mrs. John's softened
r's and shorter vowels. " 'John and I are going to call on her
tomorrow night, after the store is closed, if she will permit us, and
if she would let us have the recipe, I'd think it was the kindest
favor7,
He wiped his brow and went on, not noticing that his sister's
eyes were gleaming with the first of the held-back tears. "And
during the program Eric came up, too, kinda nervous, to tell me
he didn't countenance his wife's actions. He said he never in the
world would have said what he did, if he'd a knowed Delia was
going to say what she did. And besides," Ward was almost
winded now from the effort, and there were beads of moisture on
his lean face, "he said her cake wasn't near as good as yourn."
Elvira's tears halted him now, and he watched her, em-
barrassed at their volume.
She was shaking from chin to toe, but it was good to know
that Eric understood; that Delia had not dulled all his old
kindliness. She was glad, too, John remembered and would
come. Not many of the Lathrops would be favored with such
a visit.
"It don't matter none," she told her helpless brother, as she
gathered up her scattered knitting. She carefully wiped her eyes
and nose while Ward closed the stove draughts and locked the
doors. The tears were stopping now; the relaxation that comes
with their outpouring was beginning to be felt. "It don't matter
none," she repeated, "besides," a light broke over her face, and
the tired lines faded, "I got that pineapple conserve recipe that
no one's ever tried before. I guess that'll hold Delia when
I spring it at the Relief Society bazaar this coming December !"
Without calling goodnight, for that would have been senti-
mental foolishness, they turned off the lights and went into their
cold bedrooms.
Pioneers
WHEN WEST WAS WEST— OWEN WISTER
By Lais V. Hales
"When West Was West" is a recently published book of
nine short stories written by the well known American writer
Owen Wister. Mr. Wister knew the west in all its glory. Born
of Quaker parentage in Philadelphia in 1860, he, like his be-
loved friend Theodore Roosevelt, came west in 1885 for his
health. He stayed for several months on a Wyoming ranch. This
was the only one of many visits to the west where he fished and
hunted to his heart's content. He came to know intimately the
landscape, the soldiers, the cowboys, and the Indians. He learned
to love this country dearly, and felt that it was too little appre-
ciated ; so he began to write sketches and short stories about it.
Today he is one of the best known, best loved, and most read
of the present-day American writers of the west. "When West
Was West" is a monument to the old West, a west which he
knew when it was really west.
In theme the stories are very different, but Mr. Wister
writes equally well of the varied phases of pioneer life. To
show the scope and variety of the book, as well as its bearing on
pioneer life, we should like to speak especially about four of these
stories.
"Bad Medicine," the opening story in the book, gives us a
colorful picture of the Indian, who played so important a part
in our pioneer life. The story deals with a visit to Yellowstone
Park in the early days of its history. Against this background
Mr. Wister portrays the Indian with his fears, his superstitions,
and his reticence. We feel the elemental quality of the red man.
"Did this descendant of wars and wildernesses know the centuries
dividing us that his quietness mysteriously conveyed. With his
drooping-headed, saturnine animal, he seemed to share some in-
timate lore of nature that I and all white men were shut out from."
As he casts himself into the crater we feel still more strongly how
close to nature he is and how little we understand him.
"The Right Honorable the Strawberries" is the story of the
son of an old English title, young, handsome, likeable, who came
to the West and captured the heart of the upright cow-puncher
Chalkeye. In the relationship between the Englishman and the
American we see the difference between the Old World and the
New. The fathomless reticence of the English coupled with
the startling Western freedom of speech — freedom as to their
incomes, their families, their gaieties — is deep beyond all Amer-
ican understanding. How could Chalkeye, with his freedom
where the Englishmen is silent, understand Strawberries. How
could he know "that the true aristocrat always is the best demo-
crat, because he is at his ease with everybody, and makes them so
with him." Yet, between the two, grew up a friendship which
PIONEERS 205
prompted Chalkeye to give his life for Strawberries, and brought
Strawberries back to Drybone long after all others had left it.
In Chalkeye we have one of Mr. Wister's best characterizations.
One day Rudyard Kipling and Owen Wister were returning
by train from Washington after dining with their mutual friend
Theodore Roosevelt. They were talking "shop," and Wister told
the story of a disaster that occurred at a certain military post
as a result of the annoyance caused to a certain lively-minded
captain by the length of a certain chaplain's hair. An Apache,
carefully rehearsed by the captain, played his part in the story.
Kipling found the story so good that he said it must be written
and entitled " Absalom." Years later Mr. Wister wrote the
story and it is included in this book under the title "Absalom and
Moulting Pelican. " Colonel Steptoe McDee, a Southern gentle-
man, is a commanding figure, strong, alert, and intelligent. Broken-
hearted over the outcome of the Civil War, he comes to the West
and meets Randy, a typical Western boy. The warm friendship
between these two of such varying ages and traditions is one of
the finest things Wister has portrayed.
Tragedy has always followed in the wake of the railroad.
"At the Sign of The Last Chance," the closing story in the book,
tells of the tragedy wrought by the railroad to an old inn where
the coaches changed horses or stopped for meals in the good
old days. Just a few old men playing a listless game was all
Wister found on his last visit. He thus describes it: "I had
begun to see those beards long before they were gray ; when no
wire fence mutilated the freedom of the range; when fourteen
mess-wagons would be at the spring round up ; when cattle
wandered and pastured, dotting the endless wilderness; when
roping them brought the college graduate and the boy who had
never learned to read, into a lusty equality of youth and skill ;
when songs rose by the camp-fire ; and the dim form of the night
herder leaned on his saddle horn as under the stars he circled
slowly around the recumbent thousands ; when two hundred miles
stretched between all this and the whistle of the nearest locomotive.
"And all this was over. It had begun to end a long while ago.
It had ebbed away slowly from these now playing their nightly
game as they had once played it at flood-tide. The turn of the
tide had come even when the beards were still brown." To
Wister, "the requiem of the brown and golden beards, their ro-
mance, their departed West, too good to live forever, was finished."
All nine of the stories comprising this book are unusual.
The vivid characters, the spontaneous wit, and the excellent de-
scription that comes of personal observation make this book good
and wholesome. One feels the broadness and generous tolerance of
the author and realizes "that when one lives out of doors and takes
account of the sky and the clouds, and the quiet earth, one
lives hard, it may be, but one lives true."
Books
Married Sweethearts
Somehow I feel that when the average reader picks up "Mar-
ried Sweethearts," by Alfred Osmond, and especially if he knows
the author to be a poet, he will suspect that he is to read something
mildly sentimental in praise of wedded home life ; and he may be
inclined to lay the book aside with the thought "A good book
surely, which I shall read some day when I get more time." But
let this reader open the lids of the book and he will not read it at
some other time but right away — at once, scarcely laying the book
down after he has begun it. For the entire story is gripping, and
holds the reader with fascinating interest from first to last. The
story is a succession of real thrills ; and while it does contain many
fine sentiments well expressed, it never slops over in this respect
but brings in the sentiment with skill and ease just where it be-
longs. The book deals with bandits, robbers, murderers, outlaws,
sweethearts, married and unmarried, captured and uncaptured. For
the outlaws capture some of them ; and the record of their ad-
ventures forms a series of pictures comparable with the best Indian
stories of former days. There is a good deal of shooting, of combats,
of adventures in the mountains amid snow and storms, among
wolves and savage men who know chiefly one thing well — how to
shoot with deadly effect and to do so upon slight provocation. Thus
the book is one that makes a strong appeal to both youth and strong
natures, who love action and tense scenes and situations. With
all this the book is yet true to its title. While it contains the re-
quired materials of dramatic plot and the hairbreadth escapes
which hold any reader's interest, it also sets forth the higher beauty
of the spirit and the dominant part which the spirit takes in govern-
ing the actions of normal and abnormal men and women. It is a
love story throughout with several sets of lovers, and so has the
charm of romance for all those not too old to remember the glo-
rious days of youth and for the youth who is just about to expe-
rience these delights. At the same time there is running through
the tense and exciting narrative, like a golden vein in a layer of
quartz, a religious philosophy of life and of the power of love to
redeem men and women from even their lowest and most deeply
fallen estates. That the author can make his book preach a sermon
while relating the incidents of thrilling adventure is a high tribute
to his genius and ability as both philosopher and story teller. The
book is filled also with description of the beauty of western moun-
tains, yet there seems to be little description in it since the scenes
are a vital part of the drama itself, not being brought in for the
HOOKS 207
purposes of descriptive writing. The characters, too, follow the
Homeric rule of acting- and speaking for themselves, so that there
is not much need to label them as this or that type of human being.
Each one is a true and distinctive species of the human race, and
each describes himself mainly by what he says and does. The story
is laid somewhere in Utah, at a not very distant day, in a village
near the mountains ; it has many characters of plain, average peo-
ple. The home life of several couples is set forth with a trifle of
exaggeration, as if in order to make sure that readers shall see the
point. Of the heroines there are quite a number — Nell Foster,
Lily Williams, Samantha Wolf and Vera King, all being conspicu-
ous, and each taking a rather heavy part. The men are Sunny
Brown, Badger Wolf, Hen Fox, Dave Holmes, Butch Cassidy,
the notorious western outlaw, and several of his men. Nell Foster
is knidnaped and carried to robbers' roost in the mountains, not
for a ransom, but for a test of her supposed love for an old sweet-
heart Stanley Black, whom she had dismissed a year or so before.
She is remarkable but rather less so than the obscure girl, Lily
Williams, married to slovenly but good hearted Vern Wiliams, who
is untidy and uncultured. Lily goes in search of her kidnaped
friend, Nell. She is guided by the mail carrier for the robber, who
turns out to be of first magnitude as a man of iron and of honor,
and accompanied by Sunny Brown, a young man of the village not
in love with anyone, who at length becomes a real hero and falls
in love with an ideal woman, the picture of his own fancy. Lie
finally meets her in these mountains with the usual result. Nell
discovers that her discarded lover had no hand in her abduction
but that on the contrary he has become a man of high ideals and
lofty character, writing a book on the philosophy of life. The
story ends right, and is a good one.
Pioneers
Peder Victorious — 0. E. Rolvaag
"O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient; full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you, Western youths, see you tramping with the
foremost —
Pioneers ! O Pioneers !
Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond
the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers !
208 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the
march,
Pioneers ! O Pioneers !
This is the theme of O. E. Rolvaag's new novel "Peder
Victorious," which is a sequel to his first great pioneer novel,
"Giants in the Earth." It is a tale of the second generation of
Norwegian pioneers on the Dakota Plains. In Mr. Rolvaag's
first novel the conflict was that of man and the prairies. In
this novel it is that of parents and children. Especially is it
the story of the struggle between a strong, dominating, back-
ward-looking mother and her gifted, forward-looking son.
They are antagonists as to language, religion, and attitude to-
ward life. But Peder is victorious for "fresh and strong" the
world and its problems he seizes, and carries on the march of
the pioneers.
In a small sod hut on the Dakota prairie one Christmas
Eve, a son was born to Beret and Per Hansa. In pure thank-
fulness and because the child was born with "the helmet,"
Per named him Peder Victorious, much to the disgust of Beret,
who felt that here on the pitiless prairies no one could be vic-
torious, for the evil must sooner or later get us all. While
Peder was very small, Per Hansa wandered off into the prairie,
never to return alive. After the cruel and, to all outward
appearances, senseless death of his beloved father, Peder
grappled with the problem of God as an all-loving and all-
powerful entity. It seemed queer to him that "He who
could do all that He wanted, and wanted only that which
was good, couldn't get people to do what He wanted." His
mother Beret had built up within him a supernatural reality,
and the only suggestion he got from her was that God acts
as he does in order to try people. As Peder pondered it all,
he wondered why grown people were always ready to cry.
He decided that "the greatest thing on earth must be to make
people happy — so full of joy that they had to laugh — that's
what he wanted to do." Here he and Beret came into seri-
ous conflict, for to her all happiness was sinful. She had for-
gotten that it is God who causes all life to flower, and who
puts both good and evil into the hearts of men. She could not
understand that God is good and that he sanctions love, joy,
and happiness. Beret wanted Peder to enter the ministry,
but she drove him away from it with these strange ideas. Peder
became a farmer instead of a minister.
Beret was very sad as she watched the Americanization of
Peder. As he assimilated the English language in the place
of the language of his father, she lost hope. Here in America
BOOKS 209
the Norwegians were gradually casting away all that they
had brought with them from Norway. After all had been
taken and there was nothing but the body left, what then?
Was it possible for Norwegian hearts to beat in a medium so
alien? Must it not eventually mean death to them as a race
here in America. "But could a common sparrow take the
meadow lark's song?" Was the minister right when he said
that in twenty years not one word of Norwegian would be
heard in America? With these thoughts, Beret fights her pro-
gressive son as he grapples with the problems of becoming an
American. Thanks to his father's pioneer spirit moving within
him, Peder keeps looking forward, and takes over to the full
his "New World inheritance."
These are the things we find of most importance in this
fine new book. Here, as in "Giants in The Earth," we discover
what critics have called faith in the nobility of the human
spirit. Peder fights the problems of his generation with just
the same fine spirit that his father fought the prairie. Mr.
Rolvaag gives us a truthful picture of the differences of the
old and the young in any generation. He treats the attitude
of each generation with the same sympathy and respect. Of
the religious attitude of the Norwegians here in America
he says, "A people's soul had begun to stir. That which the
mind — in some hidden cove of a Norwegian fjord, or on some
lonely island far out where the mighty sea booms eternally — ■
through centuries had conceived of religious mysticism, and
there shaped so as to fit the conditions of life, now sought
a natural expression on the open reaches of the prairie."
Naturally, we do not find so many fine and varied pictures
of the prairie as we did in "Giants in The Earth." But we feel
keenly the effect of it on the characters of the book. "From
eternity the prairie had lain here, lapping sun and drinking
moisture, and had peered up into an endless blue sky, brim-
ful to running over. At evening it had listened to strange
tales told by the twilight breeze * * * "Human habitations
lay far apart upon the open stretches — miles apart in places.
One could not borrow warmth from the other here. Through
the cold grayness they seemed to huddle up, to crouch low
over something, as if jealously guarded."
Notes from the Field
South Sevier Stake
On September 9, 1928, at 2 p. m. a South Sevier Stake
Relief Society class leaders' convention was held in the Elsinore
ward chapel with more than 80 stake and ward officers in attend-
ance. A talk "Teachers and Better Methods of Teaching" was
given by Brother Harold Anderson. A discussion of the lesson
was held, and then department work was carried out. It is
believed that much good will result from this convention.
Pocatello Stake {Meadow Ward)
Meadow ward is small, but seemingly alive to opportunities
Meadow Ward Relief Society
in Relief Society work. The ward is a winner in stake contest ~,
and boasts of 100% annual dues paid last year.
Grant Stake
The closing session of the Grant stake Relief Society class
leaders' convention was held in the form of a banquet on Novem-
ber 15, 1928. President Winnifred B. Daynes presided. Speakers
of the evening were Elder David O. McKay, President Louise Y.
Robison, and President Joseph J. Daynes. The hall was beautifully
NOTES FROM: THE FIELD 211
decorated with the Fall flowers, and the Relief Society color scheme
of white and gold was used on .the tables. About 450 guests were
present, including Elder and Mrs. David O. McKay, the Stake
Presidency, High Council, Bishoprics, and other ward officers.
President Louise Y. Robison, past President Clarissa S. Williams,
and other members of the General Board were present. This pro-
gressive stake has also made an enviable record in its Magazine
subscriptions. The stake itself gave as a prize to the ward having
the greatest number of subscribers per capita, ten subscriptions to
the Magazine. This went to the Southgate ward, of which Mrs.
May Fromeyer is the agent. This ward shows an enrollment of 42
members in the Relief Society, with a subscription of 48 to the
Magazine. It is fine missionary work when non-members of the
Relief Society become subscribers to the Magazine. The next
ward to win distinction in this activity was the Whittier, with
Mrs. Emily A. Jones as agent. The enviable record made here is
that of an increase from 18 to 80 subscribers within two years.
Alpine Stake
Special attention is called to the very beautiful and appropriate
memorial to Annie C. Hindley. This is a most unusual and con-
structive manner in which to do honor to a noble woman whose life
was devoted to service for her sisters. On October 25, 1928, the
official dedication exercises in honor of the project were held in
the Alpine stake tabernacle, with President Maud D. Christensen
of the Alpine stake Relief Society presiding. The Annie C. Hind-
ley memorial shelf, which occupies two ceiling cabinets on each
side of tjje entrance door of the public library in x^merican Fork
was thrown open to the public. This valuable collection numbers
more than 308 books, which will be most serviceable to the women
in the work that was so dear to Mrs. Hindley's heart. The public
is cordially invited to visit this library. No finer testimonial could
be given, and we congratulate the sisters of this stake on this fine
accomplishment. We are sure that the volumes in the library will
be invaluable for reference and for entertainment. The General
Board took great pleasure in adding to this collection. The invi-
tation is still open to those who may wish to donate books in mem-
ory of Mrs. Hindley. We feel that a work has just begun here
that will be most notable in its development and of lasting benefit
to lovers of truth and admirers of Mrs. Hindley.
Franklin and Oneida Stakes
Relief Society officers of the Franklin and Oneida stake-
cooperated in conducting a pleasant and profitable class leaders'
convention on September 22, 1928. Representatives of the pres-
idencies of these stakes, one advisory High Councilman, some
prominent educators, and 102 officers of the Relief Society were
in attendance. The work of the chorister was ably outlined, and
212 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
what careful work can do was demonstrated. Professor John E.
Marsden discussed the subject "Better Methods of Teaching and
Better Teachers. " It is felt that the class leaders were greatly
benefited by this talk. An exemplary lesson was developed in
each of the three departments, theology, literature, and social serv-
ice. The music was furnished by the ward Relief Society members.
Two beautiful quilts, work done by the Oneida stake board of
Relief Society, were exhibited. Franklin and Oneida were one
stake formerly, so the luncheon and social hour which followed
the meeting was greatly enjoyed in making new acquaintances and
renewing old friendships.
St. George Stake
A most inspirational and instructive class leaders' convention
was held in connection with a flower show and pageant in the St.
George stake Relief Society. Members came from all parts of
the stake. Fifteen associations took part in the day's activities.
In spite of the severe droughts and extreme heat of the past season,
the flower show exceeded all expectations. The artificial flowers
showed skill and art in execution. In the morning session de-
partmental work was conducted. In the afternoon excellent talks
were given by J. Wm. Harrison and Sister Verna Cox on "The
Relief Society as a Teacher," and "Religion in the Home." Mu-
sical numbers were furnished by Enterprise, Toquerville, and St.
George wards. At noon, in the St. George cafe, a delicious
luncheon was served to 80 officers. To celebrate the fiftieth anni-
versary of the organization of the Relief Society in St. George,
a pageant was presented in the College Auditorium. The parts
pertaining to the stake were composed by Sisters Zora Jarvis,
Roxie Romney, and Alfa McGregor. The pageant presented the
seven General Presidents of the Relief Society impersonated by
local members. This was followed by the five "Dixie" presidents.
The closing part represented the present stake president, Sister
Josephine J. Miles, with her ward presidents : The ladies all
dressed in white ; the ward presidents kneeling, each holding a
gold streamer connected with a staff held by the stake president as
she stood, connecting the past stake and the General Presidents,
who made up the background. Excellent choruses furnished
appropriate singing for the pageant.
Morgan Stake.
Morgan stake feels that a very successful Relief Society
year has been completed ; that the ward presidents and aids
have been capable, enthusiastic leaders. On October 30, 1928,
an inspirational convention of the Stake Relief Sbciety was
held, when effective talks along the lines covering most
of the Relief Society activities were given. More than 200
workers were in attendance at this gathering, and much educa-
NOTES FROM' THE FIELD
213
tional and spiritual work reflecting the scope of the whole
organization was put ' over. The musical program for the
occasion was one of the outstanding features.
Moapa Stake.
The as^ed sisters, shown below, are members of the Overton
Relief Society, and have spent many years of active service
in the work, holding places of responsibility. The youngest
of the group is 71 years of age, the oldest 88. They are still
active and faithful — all honor to such groups whose life is a
testimony of high idealism. Last June the stake took up as
a project, "The Open Door," and learned the songs in the
music practice period during the remainder of the year at the
regular Relief Society meetings. A few group practices fin-
ished the preparation. Each Relief Society took responsibility
for two pageant scenes ; the stake board and one other near-by
group joined, making in all five groups who worked har-
moniously together for the successful presentation of the
pageant. The president feels that much good has come from
the effort, and it was also a financial success. There were
many obstacles to be overcome but a very successful presenta-
tion of the pageant showed what unity of effort and determination
to accomplish certain objectives may do.
Maricopa Stake.
Some very interesting experiences come into the work
of the Relief Society in the Maricopa stake. Not the least of
this is the work among our Lamanite sisters. In February
the Papago ward was reorganized ; a native sister, Martha
Manuel, was selected to be the president. A very fine spirit of
mutual helpfulness pervades the work of the organization in
this stake ; the stronger wards seeking to help those who have
greater difficulties in Relief Society endeavor.
Guide Lessons for June
LESSON I
Practical Religion and Testimony
(First Week in June)
LOYALTY: ITS MEANING AND NECESSITY
Loyalty is faithfulness. In its highest form, it has behind
it confidence, respect, and love. Inner loyalty is a mental attitude
of enduring faithfulness that holds out against approach of all
impulses leading to desertion of accepted principles, espoused
causes, adopted ideals, or worthy persons.
Outer loyalty is conduct in keeping with inner loyalty.
It is faithfulness expressed in word and action. It is good will
in operation toward an objective.
There is more character in full loyalty to a fable than
there is in part loyalty to a fact. Disloyalty cannot be trans-
muted into any form of goodness. Out of loyalty to an error
may develop power for loyalty to truth. In his conscientious
persecution Paul was loyal to the light he had ; and this loyalty-
made him the fighter of the good fight, the winner of the life
race, the keeper of the faith. His loyalty was true in both
cases ; true to an accepted error, true to a discerned truth ; true
to a foe, true to a friend.
Loyalty is love's most precious gift; it is friendship's final
proof ; it is humanity's strongest lifting lever.
Endurance faithful to the end,
Links up the man to God as friend,
Earth loyalty of day-by-day
Illuminates the heavenly way.
Loyalty and Law:
Jesus declares his loyalty to law and to the prophets who
had proclaimed it. He points out the relative value of word
loyalty and action loyalty. See Matt. 5 :17, 18, 19.
That he rfad regard for the civil law is plainly set forth in
Matt. 22:17-21.
Christ's loyalty to law was shown to the wife of Pilate in
a dream. In the face of a multitude of accusers the Roman
Governor pronounced the "Man of Galilee" not guilty, remind-
ing the mob that he and Herod, the King of Judea, agreed as
to verdict of innocence, and thus making it unmistakably clear
that Jesus had been loyal to the laws of the Kingdom of Judea
and to those- of the Roman empire. (Luke 23:13, 16.)
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 215
In the 12th Article of jFaith the Latter-day Saints pro-
claim to all the world that true to the faith includes loyalty
to law, a loyalty that consists of "obeying, honoring, and
sustaining," by living the law, defending the law and backing
up the enforcement of the law. The constitutional law of any
country has first claim upon the civic loyalty of everybody
in that country be they citizens or visitors. (See 12th Article
of Faith.)
Loyalty to One's Word of Honor or One's Covenants:
A word of honor to stand by righteousness is an aid to
the elevation of standards, but a word of honor given in sup-
port of evident unrighteousness is conspiracy against human
happiness ; there is no honor in a pledge of that kind. Such
a promise is conceived in dishonor, born of dishonor, and kept
with dishonor. It is one of the most tragic forms of disloyalty.
One's word of honor is a part of one's sacred self; it cannot
knowingly be given to degrading causes without taking the
giver downward. An oath of office is one of the highest
words of honor; it cannot honestly be taken without an inner
loyalty to the law.
Loyalty to one's word of honor lifts one's self respect and
wins the respect of others.
Loyalty to Causes:
The espousal of some great cause is esential to an abund-
ant life, and loyalty to a great cause develops greatness of
character. The greatness of an individual or of a group is
measurable by the greatness of the causes espoused or the
projects projected by them and by their loyalty to these causes
in the carrying out of the project. The lasting lifting power of
loyalty to a good cause is immeasurable. From such loyalty
came freedom, and through such loyalty the era of good will
shall come, when the "Goddess of right and the Champion
might shall meet at the altar of love." The causes constantly
calling for loyalty are freedom, education, temperance, peace,
health, justice, tolerance, purity — all included in the great
cause of Christianity.
Loyalty to Ideals:
Ideals are character rainbows. As we approach them
they move on, but their lure is lofty ; if we turn our backs upon
them they are no more to us. For the soul that is loyal to
an ideal there is no deluge.
My rainbow stood on the top of a hill
And beckoned me to the golden till;
I climbed, and it sped to the mountain-side,
All I had gained was a vision wide;
I was left in the shadow.
216 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
My rainbow lured me higher still,
I climbed and felt the climber's thrill ;
My rainbow fled to the mountain top,
I climbed, I would not, could not, stop —
Thank God, I said, for my rainbow.
Family Loyalty :
"Blood is thicker than water" — yes, and it should be. "I
came to my own," said the Savior. The close-knit families
are the enduring ones. The family tree is under the special
protection of every member. Family loyalty forbids hacking
it with the hacker's envy or cutting it with tongues of slander.
Cousins cannot speak evil of each other without a rebound
of their depreciation of each other's values.
Sisters-in-law do themselves and their children a good
turn when they take good care of the reputation of each
other. Family loyalty increases the sun-kissed output of the
family tree. Better brag a little on one's brother than to
belittle him ; for the more belittling, the bigger the burden of a
relative. Family loyalty will foster family friendship and de-
velop family love. Notice the family member who is full of
family loyalty, and usually he or she is the center of family
confidence, admiration, and good will. The lack of loyalty
in a family points to domestic decline and is a signal of the
approach of unfitness to survive.
Family loyalty is not limited to praise of good qualities ;
it goes over into the field of helpfulness. Members of a family
should be as glad to lift on the unfortunate as they are to
share with the fortunate members. Charity should not only
begin at home, but should be loyally followed up within the
family circle; and the helpers should know that it is harder
to be helped than it is to help. Family loyalty fights the wolf
of want ; holds back the hand of hate. It finds means and ways
for home happiness and kindred friendship. Its limitations
are bounded only by higher loyalty, of which loyalty to right-
eousness is the highest.
Religiom Loyalty:
This form of loyalty includes loyalty to the beliefs and the
ideals for which the Church stands and to the Church leaders.
It is a loyalty that suggests the slogan, "Everything to boost
and nothing to belittle." No religion is so complete nor any
ideal so perfect nor any officer so infallible that improvement
may not be thought of and spoken about in a build-up spirit ;
but all of these are too sacred to be made the object of fault-
finding with destructive disloyalty behind it. In this age of
unlimited religious freedom, consistency suggests that people
should not belong to a Church to which they cannot be loyal
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 217
in their works. Church loyalty leads to doing one's "bit" for
the Church; not only the little bit, the "get-by" bit, but the
"full-share" bit — the share indicated by the law of the Lord. For
a religion without belief in and obligation to God is nothing more
than a social organization and is not entitled to the name
religion. Religion is the application of theology ; and theology
is a code of beliefs concerning God and his relation to man.
The life of Job was more than an example of patience ; it
was an example of perfect loyalty ; for while his patience did
not prevent him from speaking of his birth as an event to be
regretted, his loyalty to the Lord led him to exclaim : "Though
he slay me, yet will I trust in Him." (See Job 10 :18, 19-13 :15.)
Questions and Problems
1. Into which topic of this lesson does the last part of
the final stanza of "The Star Spangled Banner," fit?
2. Arrange in the order of their claim upon our loyalty
the following named causes : freedom, temperance, justice.
3. Explain what is meant by inner loyalty.
4. Give evidence that the life of Jesus was an object les-
son in loyalty to law.
5. Show that the Latter-day Saints are particularly com-
mitted to this form of loyalty.
6. Name some men and some women to whom fame and
honor have come through their loyalty to causes.
7. Mention two or more great causes that are calling for
the loyalty of Americans, and tell which you think is entitled
to the most immediate attention.
8. Explain what loyalty to an ideal means to you.
9. What limitations should be put on family loyalty?
10. What habit in conversation proclaims one's loyalty
to the Church? What habits advertise one's disloyalty to his
religion ?
11. Present evidence to prove that Job's loyalty was
greater than his patience.
218 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Work and Business
LESSON II
(This topic is to be given at the special teachers' meeting the
first week in June)
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR JUNE— ACTIVITIES OF THE
RELIEF SOCIETY
Why the Charity Collection?
I. To provide, by helping those who need that help, an
opportunity for an expression of appreciation for our
own blessings.
II. To avoid the prayers of widows and fatherless ascending
against us.
III. To offer, in disaster, bereavement, sickness, a means of
support for the unfortunate.
IV. To supply means to educate or otherwise to aid some
people to help themselves.
V. To train each member of every household by encourag-
ing ihim to put by and contribute a small amount each
month to help others.
You may find it useful to learn the amount contributed
per family in your Ward during the past year.
It would appear that some of our literary class leaders,
and some other people deeply interested in the literature lessons,
have not yet learned that it is impossible to obtain a copy of
"Joseph and His Brethren." The entire edition has been ex-
hausted, and the book dealers are unable to obtain any further
copies of the book.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 219
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in June)
THE DOLL'S HOUSE
By Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was born March 20, 1828, at the little sea-
port town of Skein, where one may purchase a good deal of
silverware, for which the Norwegian market is famous. Ibsen
came of Scotch, Danish and German descent. His early years
were spent in penury. When he was fifteen years of age his
family moved to Grimstad, a town of eight hundred inhabi-
tants. In 1850 he went to Christiania, now Oslo, to prepare
to enter the university. Having had the good fortune to meet
Ole Bull, the great violinist, he was called to be threatre poet
at jthe modest little national theatre at Bergen. There he
remained until 1857. From Bergen, he later found himself
again in Christiania, where he remained until 1864. While
here, he acted as theatre poet for the Norwegian Theatre in
Christiania. Ibsen had been writing plays since his Grim-
stad days. After his return to Christiania, he devoted himself
actively to writing. After many efforts, he obtained a grant
of money for traveling. His way Jed to Italy, and now for
twelve years he was away from his native country, spending
part of the time in Rome, part time in Munich, and part time
in Dresden. By 1875 his European fame was established. He
returned to Christiania for the remainder of his life. He died
in 1906. His contribution to literature was that of a play-
wright, as he never wrote a biography or even a preface to his
plays, nor did he enter into business or other public affairs,
but devoted himself solely to writing.
It has been said on good authority that The Doll's House is
the greatest of Ibsen's plays. Thomas H. Dickinson says : "With
The Doll's House begins Ibsen's gallery of enfranchised women.
Ibsen's distrust of the majority of average men had its com-
plement in his faith in the superior man. And it is among the
superior men that he places women. From his earliest play-
writing he had treated women as of a superior order of
humanity, superior in intuition, in steadfastness, in unselfish-
ness."
In The Doll's House Ibsen gives us the story of a woman
who had been trained for entertaining in her father's home,
who had been petted within the home and sheltered from the
world outside of the home. She married a business man who
accepted her very much on the same terms as her father had
220 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
done before him — as a play thing. Finally, she was brought
face to face with a very serious situation. Her husband was
ill, the doctor told her in confidence that if he were not taken
to another climate, he would lose his life. She had no money
and knew that her husband was averse to borrowing money.
She promised to obtain her father's signature to a note for
a loan, but her father died before the signature was obtained,
and she forged his name. Then, having obtained the money
and thereby having provided the means whereby her husband's
health was restored, she set to work to make the money in
such little ways as were at her command. She copied manu-
scripts, deeds, and such like. Finally, in order to get the time,
unbeknown to her husband, she told him that she was locked
from him, hour after hour, preparing things for the Christmas
tree. Finally, on Christmas Eve, she said the cat got into the
room and destroyed all the things she had made.
Difficulty arose between Nora's husband, Torvald Helmer,
and the man from whom Nora had borrowed the money. His
position was threatened at the bank where Helmer had been
advanced and he wanted Nora to use her good offices to keep
him in the place. Nora protested the thought of her having
any influence with her husband, but Krogstad said he had
known her husband since his school days and thought he was.
as susceptible as other men he had known. Nora was so
optimistic over her husband's future that she did not think
it necessary to be in any way especially considerate of Krog-
stad. Nora finally assured Krogstad that it was really not
in her power to help him. Krogstad replied, "Because you
will not ; but I have the means of compelling you to help me."
Nora said, "You don't intend to tell my husband that I owe
you money ?"
Krogstad : Hm ! Supposing I were to tell him ?
Nora: It would be scandalous of you {with suppressed tears.)
This secret, which is my joy and my pride, he shall not learn
in such a vulgar, blunt way — and from you, too. You want
to put me to the most terrible annoyance.
Krogstad: Only annoyance?
Nora (hotly): But just do it; the consequences will be
worse for you than anybody else ; for then my husband will see
clearly what a bad man you are, and then you certainly will
not keep our post.
Krogstad : I asked if it were only domestic unpleasant-
ness that you were afraid of?
Nora: If my husband gets to know about it he will, of
course, pay the rest without delay ; and then we have nothing
more to do with you.
Krogstad (stepping a pace nearer) : Listen, Mrs. Helmer *
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 221
either you have rather a weak memory, or you don't know
much about business. In that case I must get you to go more
deeply into the matter.
Nora: How will you do that?
Krogstad : When your husband was ill, you came to bor-
row £300 of me.
Nora : I knew nobody else.
Krogstad : I promised to find you the money.
Nora: And you did find it.
Krogstad : I promised to find you the money under
certain conditions. You were just then so excited about your
husband's illness, and so anxious to get hold of the money for
your journey, that you probably did not think twice about the
difficulties it involved. It is therefore not superfluous for me
to remind you of them. Now, I promised to find you the
money in exchange for an acknowledgment which I drew up.
Nora : Yes, and I signed it.
Krogstad: Very well. But then I added a few lines
whereby your father became security for the debt. Your
father was to sign this.
Nora: Was to? He did sign.
Krogstad : I had left the date blank ; that is to say, your
father was to insert the date on which he signed the document.
Do you recollect this, Mrs. Helmer?
Nora : Yes, I believe. * * *
Krogstad : Thereupon I gave you the piece of paper that
you might send it to your father. Is not that so?
Nora : Yes.
Krogstad : And of course you did so without delay ; for
within five or six days you brought me back the acknowledg-
ment duly signed by your father. Then you received from
me the sum promised.
Nora : Well, to be sure ; have I not paid it back punctu-
ally?
Krogstad : Very fairly ; yes. But let us return to the
matter we were speaking of. You were in great trouble at
the time, Mrs. Helmer?
Nora: I was indeed.
Krogstad : Your father, too, was very seriously ill, I
believe.
Nora: He was on his death-bed.
Krogstad: And died soon after?
Nora : Yes.
Krogstad : Now, just tell me, Mrs. Helmer, whether by
any chance you happen to recollect which day he died — which
day of the month, I mean.
Nora : Father died on the twenty-ninth of September.
222 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Krogstad : Quite correct ; I have made inquiries about it.
That is why I can not explain a remarkable circumstance {draws
from his pocket a piece of writing.)
Nora: A remarkable circumstance? I do not know. *
Krogstad : The remarkable circumstance, dear Mrs.
Helmer is, that your father signed this acknowledgment three
days after his death.
Nora: What? I don't understand.
Krogstad: Your father died on the twenty-ninth of .Sep-
tember. But just look here. Here your father has dated his
signature October the 2d. Is not that remarkable, Mrs. Helmer?
( Nora is silent. ) Can you explain that to me ? ( Nora continues
silent.) It is also striking that the words "October the 2d" and
the year are not in your father's handwriting, but in one which
I believe I know. Now this may be explained by supposing
that your father forgot to date it, and that somebody added
the date by guess work before the fact of his death was known.
There is nothing improper in that proceeding. But it is the
signature of his name that my question relates to. And is it
genuine, Mrs. Helmer? Was it really your father who with
his own hand set his name here?
Nora (after a short silence throws her head back and looks
defiantly at him) : No; it is I who wrote papa's name there.
Krogstad : And are you aware, moreover, that that is a
dangerous admission?
Nora: Why? You will soon get your money.
Krogstad : May I be permitted one more question : Why
did you not send the document to your father?
Nora : It was impossible. Father was then dangerously
ill. If I had asked him for his signature I should also have
had to tell him what I wanted the money for. But in his
condition I really could not tell him that my husband's life
hung by a thread. It was quite impossible.
Krogstad : Then it would have been better for you to
give up the journey abroad.
Nora: That was impossible, too. My husband's life de-
pended on that journey. I could not give it up.
Krogstad : But did you not consider, then, that it was a
fraud on me?
Nora : I could not take any heed of that. I did not care
in the least about you. I could not endure you on account
of all the hard-hearted difficulties you made, although you
knew how ill my husband was.
Krogstad : Mrs. Helmer, you have evidently no clear
idea what you have been really guilty of. But I can assure
you it was nothing different from this, nor worse than this.
GUIDE LESSONS EOR JUNE 223
that I once did, and that destroyed my entire position in
society.
Nora : You ? Do you want to make me believe that you
would have dared to do a courageous act in order to save
your wife's life?
Krogstad : The laws inquire little into motives.
Nora : Then we must have very bad laws.
Krogstad : Bad, or not bad — if I lay this document before
a court of law you will be judged according to the laws.
Nora : That I do not believe. Do you mean to tell me
that a daughter has not the right to spare her old father, on
his death-bed, care and worry? Do you mean to say that a
wife has not the right to save her husband's life? I don't
know the law precisely, but I am convinced that somewhere
or another the law must contain leave for me to have done
such things. And you don't know it — you, a lawyer. You
must be a bad lawyer, Mr. Krogstad.
Krogstad : I dare say. But business — such business as
ours here — I do understand; you believe that? Very well.
Now, do as you please. But this I do say to you : that if I am
turned out of society a second time, you shall keep me com-
pany.
Krogstad leaves Nora's home very much disturbed, and
later writes a letter to her husband telling him of the whole
affair. Nora knows that the letter is in the box, and she does
everything to draw her husband's attention away from it.
Finally, after their return from a ball, where she has danced
the tarantella with surprising effect, he takes the letter from
the box. Nora has had a romantic, idealistic attitude toward
her husband, and she believes that when he learns of her trouble,
he will be so grateful to her for having provided the means
that saved his life, that he will take the whole responsibility
on himself to protect her. Imagine her surprise when Helmer
says to her: "Do you know what is in this letter? * * *
You miserable creature — what have you done?"
Nora : Let me go. You shall not suffer for it ; you shall
not take it upon yourself.
Helmer: Don't try any actress's tricks (shuts the door to
the hall.) Here you shall stay and abide my judgment. Do you
comprehend what you have done? Answer. Do you under-
stand it?
Nora (looks at him fixedly, and says with heightened ex-
pression) : Yes. Now I begin to understand it quite.
Helmer (walking round) : Oh, what an awful awakening !
During all these eight years — you who were my pride and my
joy — a hypocrite, a liar — ay, and worse, worse — a criminal. Oh !
what an abyss of unloveliness it implies! Ugh! ugh! (Nora
224 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
is silent, and continues to look fixedly @ti him. Helmer continues
standing before her.) I ought to have guessed that something
of the kind was sure to happen. I ought to have forseen it.
Your father's low principles — be silent! — your father's low
principles you have inherited, every one of them. No religion,
no morality, no sense of duty. Oh, how bitterly punished I
am for ever having winked at his doings ! I did it for your
sake ; and this the way you reward me.
Later, Krogstad sends a letter to Helmer which says that
he has destroyed the evidence and it will not be produced
against her. Then Helmer exclaims in his selfishness : "I am
saved ! Nora, I am saved !" And Nora asks, "And I ?" and
he says, "You too, of course."
Helmer does not understand the shock he has given his
wife. She asks him to sit down, telling him she has many
things to talk over with him.
Helmer (sitting opposite to her at the table) : Nora, you make
me anxious. * * * I don't in the least understand you.
Nora : Just so. You don't understand me. And in the
same way I have never understood you, till tonight. No, don't
interrupt me. Only listen to what I say. * * * This is a
breaking off, Torvald.
Helmer: How do you mean?
Nora (after a short silence) : Does not one thing strike you
as we sit here?
Helmer: What should strike me?
Nora : We have now been married eight years. Does it
not strike you that tonight for the first time we two, you and I,
husband and wife, are speaking together seriously?
Helmer: Well; "seriously," what does that mean?
Nora : During eight whole years and more, since the day
we first made each other's acquaintance, we have never ex-
changed one serious word about serious things.
Helmer : Ought I, then, too have persistently initiated
you into difficulties you could not help me by sharing?
Nora : I am not talking of difficulties. All I am saying
is, that we have never yet seriously talked any one thing over
together.
Helmer : But, dearest Nora, would it have been any good
to you if we had?
Nora : That is the very point. You have never under-
stood me. * * * I have been greatly wronged, Torvald.
First by father and then by you. * * *
Nora: Yes, it is just so, Torvald. While I was still at
home with father, he used to tell me all his views, and so of
course I held the same views ; if at any time I had a different
view I concealed it, because he would not have liked people
GUIDE LESSONS FOR IUNE 225
with opinions of their own. He used to call me his little doll,
and play with me, as I in my turn used to play with my dolls.
Then I came to live in your house. * * * Here I have
been your doll-wife, just as at home I used to be papa's
doll-child.
Problem
Nora thinks that there must be something* wrong in a
world where a woman may not be permitted to save her hus-
band's life. She knows that she has been punished severely
for doing the natural thing, and so she wonders what is the
matter with the laws. At least, she has learned one thing,
that if a woman is to have freedom to do the good that is with-
in her soul, she must understand her world. So she leaves
Helmer with the children. She rather accepts his verdict that
she is not prepared to make them the mother they should have
or to make him the wife he should have until she has learned
more of her world.
The DoWs House is a satire against keeping a woman in
ignorance, or the old belief that a woman is all right provided
her husband is well informed. The husband may be in the
condition Helmer was in, so near to death's door that he cannot
be communicated with, and the father may be on his death-
bed, or even dead, as Nora's father was at the time she needed
his help. Ibsen has been careful to give us a situation where
both the husband and the father are unable to give the woman
advice, and as a consequence, she disobeys the law and be-
comes liable to a severe penalty because of her ignorance, which
this time means a lack of knowledge of the law.
Questions
1. What opportunities offered women of today make it
possible for them to keep out of Nora's difficulties ?
2. Do you think Nora was justified in feeling that she
should be trained to be a real companion to her husband?
3. What characteristics of Torvald Helmer made him shrink
from assuming Nora's guilt, as she believed, at first, that he would ?
4. Do you think it was natural for Nora to refuse to be
friendly with her husband after he had spoken to her the harsh
words that he did speak ?
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in June)
Lesson 15. Present Status of Our Knowledge of Education.
(Based on Part 3, "The Child, His Nature and His Needs.")
226 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
(Note: One of our colleagues has suggested that our reference
to smoking in last month's lesson on "Adolescence" is apt to leave
a wrong impression in the minds of some readers. Lest this
should happen, we hasten to amplify the statement in Lesson 14
which seems possible of misinterpretation.
On page 171 of the Magazine for March, 1929, we make the
following statement :
"But since cigarette smoking has been popularized and ex-
tended— due, by the way, to modern business methods — it is in-
correct to assume that the use of the cigarette today is as immoral
as it was a generation ago."
To this we would add the following qualification: "This,
however, is not meant to imply that its use is not as harmful now as
it was formerly. We believe that cigarette smoking is just as
physically harmful now as it ever was, and that it should be
combated by every intelligent means at our command. Perhaps
a better way to present this statement would be to say that since
cigarete smoking has been popularized and extended — due, by the
way, to modern business methods — it is incorrect to assume that
the use of the cigarette in the world, today, is as immoral as it
was a generation ago."
In affirming our belief in the Church stand on this point, we
can do no more than call attention to the revelation given through
Joseph, the Seer, at Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, February
27, 1833, which reads :
"And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the
belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all
sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. * * * And
all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking
in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their
navel, and marrow to their bones, and shall find wisdom and great
treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures ; and shall run and
not be weary, and shall walk and not faint; and I, the Lord,
give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass
by them, as the children of Israel, and not slav them." — Doc. and
Cov., Section 89, Verses 8 and 18-21.)
A. The Gap Between our Knowledge of Education and our
Educational Practice
This chapter (16), written by John J. Tigert, formerly
United States Commissioner of Education, discusses a problem
that is little understood and still less appreciated by the average
American citizen. The discrepancy between educational needs
and educational practice becomes apparent when one considers
the failure of the public school (a) to systematically train for
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 227
character development, (b) to deal with the sex life of the child,
(c) to cope with the problems of vocational guidance and vo-
cational education, (d) to prepare children for the constructive
use of their leisure time, and (e) to train them for citizenship.
B. The Reasons for a Gap Between Educational Theory and
Practice
Obviously, the main reason for a gap between educational
theory and practice is the fact of social change. Schools can
hardly anticipate social change, at least as they are organized
at present. The very best they can do at the present is to keep
abreast of social change. The more education becomes formalized,
on the one hand, and the more rapid is the social change on the
other, the wider, of course, becomes the gap between educational
needs and educational practice.
The author of this chapter has analyzed very effectively the
main reasons why practice lags behind knowledge in education.
To this list, however, might very well be added two or three other
more or less related causes. In the first place, education has not
been characterized by the superior leadership that has character-
ized, for instance, commerce and trade. Other things being equal,
young men and women will more often choose business, law,
medicine, etc., in preference to teaching. The reason for this, of
course, is not hard to see. The financial rewards in such fields as
medicine, business, law, etc., are far more attractive than in edu-
cation. This condition is largely responsible for the lack of
leadership which in general has charcterized educational work in
this country, at least. The result is that education has been de-
prived of a good deal of the vision and vigor that it would other-
wise possess.
The limitations of educational practice are, of course, some-
what of a reflection of our prevailing social attitudes and something
of an indication of the relative importance of our social values. In
the United States, particularly, commerce and trade have assumed
supreme command of our life and thinking. Education, character
and other "higher wants" inevitably suffer when our values become
thus reversed. (This, of course, is not meant to disparage com-
merce and industry. The implication is, merely, that education
and other non-profit-making enterprises which promote the "good
life" will have to be more liberally subsidized in order to compete
with modern business in attracting men and women of superior
ability.
C. Education is Becoming a Science
An activity is scientific when it reduces the element of chance
and substitutes precision and certainty therefor. A subject is
228 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
scientific when it is characterized by rules or principles which are
objective and verifiable; that is, when whoever applies them will
obtain uniform, predictable results. The reason for this scientific
movement in education is the need for eliminating waste and in-
creasing efficiency of the educational process in general. Con-
cretely, this scientific tendency is producing a re-examination of
many procedures and traditional practices which are at present
the very warp and woof of school work. The re-examination of
the curriculum, for instance, and the re-classification of pupils,
are cases in point.
One of the most definite evidences of this scientific tendency
in modern education is the highly successful practice of measuring
the results of instruction. It is no longer necessary, for instance,
to guess at the effectiveness of a teacher's instruction in the
matter of reading, arithmetic, writing, spelling, geography, com-
position, etc. Objective tests, yielding quantitative scores are
now used systematically in most modern schools in these and
other subjects.
In addition to the tendency of teachers' colleges and a number
of the wealthy school districts (e. g. Winnetka) to set up labora-
tory schools for the purpose of trying out new ideas in education,
there has developed a tremendous interest in educational research
and investigation. The larger school systems employ assistant
superintendents and other administrative heads who are highly
trained in the technique of research.
These and other concrete applications of the scientific spirit
and the scientific method in education will, in a short space of a
few years, guarantee a more efficient system of education; one
which is more likely to keep abreast of contemporary social life
than has ever been true in the past.
For the Further Stimulation of Thought
1. Why does public education "necessarily lag behind" social
life?
2. What reasons other than those mentioned by the author
and in this lesson can you give why practice lags behind knowledge
in education in your community,
3. Should a state superintendent of public instruction be
elected or appointed? Why? How is it done in your state?
4. What are the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act? How
has your state participated in the provisions of this law?
5. What, according to Tigert, has been the greatest drawback
to the success of vocational education?
6. Is a complete reorganization of the public schools needed ?
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JUNE 229
Why? How should this change be brought about? What part and
responsibility have a local community in such a change?
7. What is the difference between the German and the
American system of public schools? To what extent has the
German system of education influenced our own?
8. Why do pupils drop out of school in your community?
Has a careful study of this subject ever been made by your local
school officials?
9. What is a junior high school? What are its advantages
and limitations?
10. Wherein is it correct or incorrect to assume that the
application of scientific method will alone close the gap between
educational theory and educational practice?
Hills
By Christie Lund
God, make me as the hills —
Strong, to endure
The cold,
The bitterness of winter's ruthless winds.
Give me the character
To stand
Unmoved, unweakened
Ey the friendly summer sun.
Give me the courage
To face adversity-
Flaunting my colors high,
Like hills when summer dies.
Yet, more than all
Give me a glad, young heart
Thaf, spite of winter snows,
And summer suns,
Looks up and sings
As the eternal, flower-strewn
April hills.
April
By Susan T. Jennings
April, why are you so brashy?
So coquettish ? Almost trashy !
Why, your rain is like the dew,
With the sunshine flirting through.
Throw the household in a pout;
All dressed up, then can't go out
'Cause its raining. 'Pears you tease
Like you'd rather, 'stead of please.
Folks sit down to take a rest —
Take their wraps off — think its's best-
Suddenly there comes a shout :
"Why the sun is coming out!"
Yet your mission, April dear,
To the world is very clear ;
For it takes opposing forces,
To accomplish nature's courses.
Warming sunshine, softening rain,
Purifies for that great pain;
Purifies for that great birth,
Of the wondrous growth of earth.
Laughter, sorrow, pleasure, pain ;
Toss your sunshine, cast your rain ;
Fill your mission, April dear,
Favored month of all the year.
Favored month for birth of Him,
He who died to save from sin;
For His church established too —
April, hail, we honor you !
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that a broad curriculum of the highest standard will be offered at
Utah's oldest and highest ranking educational institution. It will be
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THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
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addition to our own well trained faculty, which is well known, we
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an already excellent faculty:
Dr. L. L. Bernard, Professor of
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Dr. John G. Rossman, Assistant
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Dr. R. D. Russell, Professor of
Secondary Education, Univer-
sity of Idaho.
Miss Florence Sommers, of New
York University, Supervisor of
Physical Education, Baltimore.
Dr. Robert J. Sprague, Professor
of Economics, Rollins College.
Miss Alvaretta West, of Cleve-
land, Ohio, in Music Apprecia-
tion.
Dr. Louis Wolsey, Chancellor of
the Jewish Chautauqua Society
of Philadelphia; series of lec-
tures.
To this list of out-of-state visiting faculty has been added J.
Spencer Cornwall, Supervisor of Music, Granite School District;
Miss Caroline Parry, art teacher who has had extensive training in
New York; and Dr. J. T. Worlton, Assistant Superintendent of
Schools, Salt Lake City.
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COfcT^tTCS
The Pioneer Mother Frontispiece
The Pioneer Mother Jennie B. Knight 233
Mrs. Kate Montgomery Barker (with por-
trait) Alice Louise Reynolds 238
The Childless Mother. Estelle Webb Thomas 237
Mrs. Marcia Knowlton Howells (with por-
trait) Mary Grant Judd 242 '
The Inauguration Mrs. Vera S. King 246
Editorial — President Hoover's Prohibition
Pronouncement 252
Utah Provides for the Care of the
Feeble-Minded 253
Utah Law Prohibits the Advertising of
Tobacco and Cigarettes 254
Absent Camilla Woodbury Judd 255
Mother Heart Nelle Allen Talmage 256
The Face in the Mirror
Elizabeth C. Porter-Rissanen 259
Invisible Servants of Mankind
Thomas L. Martin 262
Speaking of Girls. .. .Harrison R. Merrill 268
The Stork Mrs. Grace Woodbury 269
The Arrow of Chance. .Henry F. Kirkham 271
Pioneers Lais V. Hales 276
Cross-Sections of Utah History 278
Notes from the Field 280
Relief Society Annual Report 283
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
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VOL. XVI
MAY, 1929
NO. 5
The Pioneer Mother
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI , MAY, 1929 No.
The Pioneer Mother
Avard Fairbanks' Tribute in Stone
By Jennie B. Knight
What serene yet powerful beauty ! What determined yet
restful strength ! What vigorous yet graceful loveliness ! What
a mother!
Such are the thoughts that find echo in the hearts of the chil-
dren and grandchildren of that heroine, "The Pioneer Mother",
as they gaze with fascination upon the artistic representation. The
grateful appreciation for such a character carries over to the man
responsible for so accurate and so beautiful a portrayal of "The
Pioneer Mother," the man who understands and appreciates as
they do, but who is also able to express his appreciation through
the sculptor's fingers and the artist's soul. The man is Avard
Fairbanks.
"He has the soul of an artist, his vision and his hands are good
and faithful servants, and his taste is sound and safe * * *
His genius is not an explosive, consuming fire, but instead is a
comfortable, steady flame that illuminates and permeates, and en-
dures." Thus does America's eminent naturalist, W. T. Hornady,
describe for us the sculptor.
We claim Mr. Fairbanks as our own because he was born in
Provo, Utah, March 2, 1892, the son of J. B. Fairbanks and Lily
Anetta Huish Fairbanks. The father, a man of sturdy New
England stock, is regarded as one of the leading landscape painters
of America. The mother was a woman with an understanding
heart and an appreciation of her husband's and children's talents :
no sacrifice was too great for her if it was for their advancement.
The genius of Avard was manifested early. At the age of
twelve he completed his first piece of sculpture, in the form of a
rabbit, which was exibited in the Utah State Fair. The next year
he followed his father to New York, where both of them pursued
234 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
their professions. The boy began work in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, studying the examples of sculpture there and
working also in the New York Zoological Museum. The young
prodigy was soon recognized in the magazine and newspaper
world, the result being that he was offered a special scholarship
in the Art Students League of New York, where he was soon
happily enrolled as the youngest student in attendance. The
following year the scholarship was re-offered ; and it was then, at
the early age of fourteen, that the work of Avard was accepted
by the National Academy of Design.
R. Stuyvesant Pierrepont, prominent banker on Wall Street
in New York, writes : "I have known Mr. Fairbanks and have
seen him off and on since he was fourteen years old when he did a
sculpture of my baby daughter, which I understand was exhibited
in the Paris Salon."
The next year of this eventful period, Avard returned home
and attended high school at the L. D. S. U. in Salt Lake City. He
did not remain long at school. At the age of sixteen we find him
enrolled in the Ecole Nationale Des Beaux Arts, the French Gov-
ernment Art School. While in Paris he attended also the Ecole
Colrossi and Ecole La Grande Chaumiere. When seventeen years
of age, in recompense for effort as well as ability, his work was ac-
cepted in the Great Salon of Paris.
The outbreak of the war disturbed this unusual progress,
and Avard returned home to engage once more in his liberal
education.
About this time, two and a half years of his life were spent in
Laie, Hawaii, where he and his brother, J. Leo, fulfilled a com-
mission to do the sculpture work of the Latter-day Saint temple.
It is related that while accomplishing this piece of work, Avard
was besieged by and fell victim to a queer little fellow known as
cupid. When twenty-one years old he was married in Honolulu
to Beatrice Maude Fox of Salt Lake City. Today they are the
proud parents of four stalwart sons.
Upon his return to Utah, Mr. Fairbanks joined in the service
in the S. A. T. C. of the University of Utah.
After the signing of the Armistice he entered his professional
field of sculpture. One of his first undertakings at this time was
the heroic size statue of 'The Doughboy of Idaho". At the com-
pletion of his work on 'The Doughboy", C. C. Moore, Governor
of Idaho, asserted that "We who personally know this splendid
character, ability, and energy, predict for him a brilliant future in
his chosen field of endeavor."
His twenty-third anniversary found him enlisted as assistant
professor of Art in the University of Oregon. While thus em-
ployed he asked for a one year's leave of absence, which he
/
The Right Shall Prevail
Ninety-first Division Memorial
236 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
utilized in working for and receiving his B.F.A. degree from
Yale University.
In 1927 his ability and character were again recognized and
he was given a grant by the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
to study in Italy. At the expiration of the scholarship, which oc-
curred recently, he returned to Seattle, Washington, where he has
been commissioned to make the 91st Division Memorial, a piece
of work now under construction. Since his return he has also re-
ceived the appointment to head a newly created Department of
Sculpture in the University of Michigan.
Avard Fairbanks has not yet reached the summit of his ar-
tistic achievement. Such authorities as W. Frank Pairdy, one of
America's greatest art critics, says : "I am very definitely of the
opinion that if the United States is ever to express itself in a voice
of its own in sculpture, it will be through men like Fairbanks ;
men of about his age, and men of his consecration to the highest
ideals of art, and men of his supreme industry * * * And
I know of none of richer promise along these lines."
Motherhood
By Annie G. Lauritzen
Sweet motherhood, gift most divine
Of all God's gifts to womankind;
Sweet motherhood, dear motherhood,
So lightly prized, misunderstood,
The brightest jewel in earthly crown,
Fairer than fame or rich renown.
Sweet motherhood, the birth of all —
The great, the mighty, and the small ;
A mother's hand has shown the way,
That childish feet might never stray;
At her kind breast the babe was fed,
And at her knee its prayers were said.
Sweet motherhood ; no other joy
More pure, more dear, with less alloy.
Even angels look with envy rare
Upon the mother's face so fair.
The babe, our God's most precious gift,
Should human hearts to heaven lift.
Sweet motherhood, which bears the pain,
That spirits may their bodies gain —
Unselfish love and sacrifice,
That first began in paradise.
All hail the mothers, queens they are,
In God's vast kingdom none so fair.
The Childless Mother
By Estelle Webb Thomas
For her, who by inscrutable decree
Of The Omniscient One, has been denied
The fulness of a woman's destiny —
A mother's hopes and fears, a mother's pride —
From whom the gift supreme has been withheld,
Whose heart must grieve for that it ne'er has known,
Whose eager arms no little form have held
With ecstasy one feels but for her own —
Who glad would barter worldly wealth and fame
For that small title scorned by many another,
She who would feel exalted by the name —
So sweet on trusting baby lips — of "Mother,"
But questions not the wisdom of His ways,
Accepts with meekness what her God hath willed,
And seeks to fill with service all her days,
E'en though her soul's desire be unfulfilled.
i&
And, lacking those whom she may call her own,
Has love enough for every child she knows ;
Within whose lonely heart through pain has grown
An understanding' of their childish woes — •
'&
For her, the childless mother, on this day
That glorifies the humblest mother's lot,
A word to drive her loneliness away —
A sheaf of blossoms, or a tender thought.
Mrs. Kate Montgomery Barker
Mrs* Kate Montgomery Barker
By Alice Louise Reynolds
Mrs. Kate Montgomery Barker comes to the General Board
with a unique background and experience. She is the wife of
Professor James L. Barker, head of the Modern Language Depart-
ment at the University of Utah, and, as such, has shared his val-
uable experiences abroad. It is probably true that no other man in
the Church has devoted as much time to study abroad as Professor
Barker, and during part of this time in foreign lands his wife has
been with him. She first went to Europe in 1906, the year of their
marriage, and since that time has spent seven years in Europe,
where she took advantage of opportunity for study, both in the
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, and in the University of
Paris, France.
Mrs. Barker is the daughter of Nathaniel Montgomery and
Nancy Clark Montgomery, both of Scotch extraction. Montgom-
ery Castle, mentioned by Burns in one of his poems, was the
ancestral castle of her father's people. Also, on her mother's side,
she is connected with the great manufacturers, J. & P. Coates,
located at Paisley, Scotland. She was born in North Ogden, Utah,
and there she spent her early girlhood days. Her father was a
successful farmer, with such a knowledge of law that the people
around called him Judge Montgomery. He was a man possess-
ing exceptional powers of analysis, and of a quick and alert mind.
Mrs. Barker has inherited her father's mental alertness. Her
mother was a woman of tender nature, kindly in attitude towards
those with whom she came in contact, and very much devoted to
her home and children. Her home was a center of hospitality,
and through many years she made welcome a host of friends. Mrs.
Barker has inherited her mother's tenderness and solicitude for her
children ; and, with her husband, possesses the spirit of hosnitality
so apparent in the lives of her father and mother.
After her early training, she entered the Ogden High School.
Here her record for scholarship was one of the highest in the
school. Her husband often remarks, jokingly, that one thing he
has against his wife is that he never could keep up with her in high
school. Her grades were always higher than his, so he says. She
tells the story of being ill in her district school days, and of going
out to meet her sisters returning from school, so anxious was she
to know the grade that had been given the pupils. When she
asked about them, the answer came, "You got the highest grade
in school, except one, and that was James Barker, who received
one-half a point more than you." After graduation from the Ogden
High School, she taught school for four years, and was teaching
240 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in Logan the year of her marriage, which occurred May 30, 1906.
At that time, Mr. Barker had been teaching foreign language
in the Ogden High School, having prepared himself for this work
by study in the University of Utah, and a three-year mission that
brought him in contact with both French and German. At once
they set sail for Europe, as Mr. Barker had in mind college work.
They have three children, two daughters and a son. Nancy,
the eldest daughter, is assisting in the Modern Language Depart-
ment at the University of Utah, teaching French and Spanish, as
she pursues her college course. Margaret, who is still in the L. D.
S. High School, is also efficient in French ; and the youngest mem-
ber of the family, a son bearing his father's name, bids fair to
maintain the family reputation for linguistic achievements.
Since her marriage, Mrs. Barker has been connected with
university circles and has taken advantage of this connection in
the college centers in which she has resided. The years 1906 and
1907 were spent in Europe, as also were 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913,
1924, 1925, 1926, 1927. She knows pre-war and post-war Europe
in a way that not many have been privileged to know it. Foreign
languages are not usually easy for an American to learn. The
United States is so isolated from other countries that the back-
ground of its citizens does not afford the opportunities, common
in Europe, for acquiring other tongues. Mrs. Barker's friends
have been astonished at the rapidity and accuracy with which she
acquired the French language. I do not know that she ever studied
it formally, but from her constant contacts with French people,
from the companionship of her husband, and from taking note of
what he taught the children, she has acquired a reading and speak-
ing knowledge of French that makes her at home among French-
speaking people ; and it enabled her to carry on her work in the
universities of Neuchatel and Paris, where practically all the lec-
tures are delivered in French.
Since Mrs. Barker's return from Europe, she has been active
in various literary organizations that have as their object the cul-
ture of their members. She is at present a member of the Faculty
Women's Club of the University of Utah, and of the Author's
Club. Since 1927, she has been on the stake board of the Relief
Society of Liberty Stake, where, as stake supervisor, she has had
the direction of the theology work.
Mrs. Barker is frank and open in her conversation and deal-
ings. She dislikes sham and pretense, and detects it in others, as
it were, by instinct. She is a good thinker and expresses herself
with clearness, both in her private conversation and in her public
utterances. She is intuitively sympathetic and tender towards peo-
ple who are unfortunate or handicapped. She is of a mental and
emotional make-up that naturally brings the best that is in her to
the fore, especially for the succor of those who need relief. Tender
of heart, keen of mind, and devoted to persons or causes that she
MRS. KATE MONTGOMERY BARKER
241
deems worthy, she brings to the great Relief Society cause an
acumen of knowledge and a breadth of sympathy that will, at all
times, be helpful in furthering its two major objects — relief and
education.
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Mrs. Effie Hutchings Marshall and Triplets
The triplets shown in the accompanying picture, Rachel, Ruth and
Ross, are the children of Mrs. Effie Hutchings Marshall of Minersville.
At the time of their birth, July 31, 1927, the mother was secretary of
the Relief Society in the Minersville ward. They are fine, healthy
babies, and were about ten months old when this picture was taken.#
There are five other children in the family.
Mrs. Marcia Knowlton Howells
Mrs* Marcia Knowlton Howells
By Mary Grant Judd
In 'the days when Merry Widow hats were all the vogue —
twenty-five years ago to be exact — a group of light-hearted girls
spent a fortnight at Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The
Grant Cottage had just been completed, and they were allowed
to be its first occupants.
Towards the conclusion of the house party, Brother and
Sister Grant arrived, and, as was their custom, took a lively in-
terest in all that transpired. They enjoyed getting better acquaint-
ed with the girls; and when the guests had returned to the city,
their hosts gave it as their opinion that the cabin had housed an
exceptionally fine group of young people. They discussed this
one and that, and then I remember President Grant's saying some-
thing to this effect: "Of course we are partial to our own, so
we will leave them out ; but of all the other girls, I was most im-
pressed with Marcia Knowlton. She gives promise of being an
exceptional woman/'
He did not know that at just about this time, in a patriarchal
blessing, Marcia had been promised that she should be a leader
among women. I doubt if he may even recall his words for, during
the intervening years, he has seen little of the girl who so im-
pressed him. But my association with her has been very close and
I have remembered. And now, with the calling of Marcia Knowl-
ton Howells to the General Board of the Relief Society, the
words of my father, spoken somewhat carelessly at the time, appear
to me almost in the light of prophecy.
The subject of this sketch was born May 28, 1888, in Farm-
ington, Utah, the daughter of Minerva Richards and Benjamin
Franklin Knowlton. Her father died when she was very young,
leaving the entire care of herself, one brother, and three sisters,
to her mother. Sister Knowlton is a descendant of the early
pioneer Richards family, whose history at Nauvoo is so closely
interwoven with that of our Church as to be almost inseparable.
She is a true gentlewoman, dignified and refined. Though quiet
and somewhat reserved one feels nevertheless that she has been
a tower of strength to her fatherless children. Her faith in the
gospel has not wavered ; and though her responsibilities have been
many, she has found time to take an active part in the Church.
Her daughter is but following where the mother has led ; for
Sister Knowlton, at the age of seventeen, was made secretary of
the Davis Stake Relief Society at the time of its organization. For
twenty-five years she gave continuous service, her last position
being that of stake president.
The home over which she presided, the home where Marcia
244 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
was reared, was one of order and spirituality. The loss of the
father seemed to knit the family, closer together. Between the
mother and children in that home there grew a deep and sacred
love. Here, both night and morning, family prayers were said, the
law of tithing observed, the Sabbath properly enjoyed, the Word
of Wisdom rigidly adhered to. In short, the simple laws of the
Gospel were here taught by both example and precept.
Came a day when Marcia left her mother's home to start a
new one of her own, but so potent had been the mother's teachings
that the daughter could not forsake them even if she would. She
had said that if at times her own inclinations might have led her
to follow the easier way — the way of the crowd — the thought that
it would pain her mother has deterred her.
For thoughtfulness of others is one of Marcia's outstanding
attributes. If I were to try to put into words that something
which distinguishes her from other individuals, I would say it is
the quality of her generosity. She gives herself. Wherever you
see her she is helping. "Let me do that," she says, in her pleasant
way; and so willing does she seem that her friends appreciatively
accept her proffers. She is generous with her time, doing more
than her share when called upon. She is generous in her thoughts
of others. Because she is not one of those persons who is passively
good, she is tolerant of the failings of her acquaintances ; and where
there is good to be found, she is generous in her praise. She
enjoys giving sincere compliments. Modest about her own tal-
ents, scarcely admitting that she has any, she greatly admires the
accomplishments of others.
I might put it in another way and say she is genuinely un-
selfish. If working in a successful group, she is apt to give most
credit to the other person. This in itself is a form of generosity ;
for we all like praise, whether we are willing to admit it or not.
She never tries to attract attention to herself or to be "the center
of the stage." In her makeup there is no jealousy. On the con-
trary, she gets keen enjoyment out of the good fortune of others.
She is sympathetic. It seems to be her second nature to visit and
help those in trouble. She is hospitable. Her husband, Dr. Thomas
J. Howells, and herself have a wide circle of friends who are
always made welcome in their pleasant home. Marcia is fun-
loving, young in appearance and spirit, kindly, approachable, in
short, a charming hostess.
If one adds to these likable personal qualities the fact that
Marcia is a good executive, a tireless and enthusiastic worker,
and has the background of a splendid education, one may readily
see that she is well qualified for the position to which she has been
called. Her schooling comprised attendance at the public schools
of Farmington, the L. D. S. High School, and the University of
Utah, the whole being rounded out by four years of teaching. In
1921, in company with her husband and young son, she took a
MRS. MARC I A KNOWLTON HOW ELLS 2A5
trip around the world — a liberal education in itself. Always in-
terested in Church work, she has served as a local or stake worker
in Sunday School, Primary, Religion Class and Relief Society.
At the time of her call to the Relief Society General Board she
was acting as first counselor to Sister Elizabeth C. Williams of
the Salt Lake stake'.
Her president pays her this glowing tribute : "There is noth-
ing too good to say for Sister Howells. She is a splendid executive,
efficient, dependable, and one of those rare individuals who as-
sume more than their share of responsibility. In our deliberations
as a presidency, she was frank to give her opinions though they
might differ radically from our own ; but once a decision was
reached, she readily fell in line, setting her own views aside. I
admired her for this. We were loath to lose her, but felt it an
honor to have her chosen to her present position."
T hope that many of you who read this sketch may know the
happiness of meeting Marcia Knowlton Howells. It will enrich
your experience as it has done mine. In our high school days I
formed a high opinion of her character ;.and during all the years of
our friendship, she has not disappointed me. No, not once.
A Cook Book from Garfield Stake
The Garfield Stake Relief Society, under the direction of the
stake board, has compiled a very useful and attractive cook book.
This reminds us that in the olden days co-operation had not
been thought of in relation to cooking. If a girl happened to be
born into a home where the people were good cooks, she stood a
very good chance of being a good cook herself. If, on the other
hand, her people did not know how to make good bread, or to cook
other things properly, that was her inheritance in the cuisine art.
But nowadays, through co-operation, practically all women who
are ambitious in this work can learn the best way to cook. The
project put over by Garfield Stake is a movement in co-operation.
The book gives a variety of recipes, that will be useful to
anybody desiring to combine tasty and delicious foods. To people
who have a sweet tooth, the number of recipes for cakes and
cookies will give general satisfaction. We compliment and com-
mend this stake on this activity. Many stakes have done the same
thing at other times, so that the Relief Society has a reputation
for spreading good news in the art of cooking.
The Inauguration
A Letter by Mrs. Vera S. King, President of Relief Society at
Washington, D. C; wife of Senator William H. King
To the Editor,
Relief Society Magazine :
When you asked me to write a letter on the inauguration, I
feared that by the time my letter reached you everyone might
be surfeited from reading about even so momentous an event.
I am delighted, however, to submit a few of my impressions from
the Senate Gallery, as perhaps being a little more intimate than
even the regular reporter might give.
Preparations and Weather
For weeks before the fourth of March the town began taking
on new activities. There was a sub-current of excitement felt
everywhere, the city being literally house-cleaned and made bright
and shiny for the expected visitors. The shop windows took on a
new magnificence. The hotels were overflowing with persons
coming from all parts of the country, eager to be assured of
accommodations.
The weather through February, as so often happens this far
South, was delightful, giving a promise of spring by its mellow
warmth and soft sunshine. The more adventuresome blades of
grass were beginning to show green, causing the entire city to
desire to desert the irksome duties of remaining indoors and to
join forces with those who were preparing for the "big day."
How tempting it is, on a sunshiny afternoon, to stroll through
the beautiful Lafayette Park just in front of the White House!
On this particular day in February I was taking this walk and
caught my first glimpse of the stand being built for the new Pres-
ident to review the parade. On each side the skeletons of immense
bleachers were going up over every available square foot along
the avenue, from the White House to the Capitol, so that visitors
might witness the events in comfort.
A Momentous Occasion
Partaking of the excitement of the preparation, and standing
there with the view of the White House obstructed by this scaf-
folding, one could not help but wonder at the emotions of those
within the historic building. The man who for more than four
years had wielded authority greater than most kings and rulers
of this world now exercise, would depart under the stone arches
a plain American citizen ; and the man, now to wield that power,
THE INAUGURATION 247
would walk under the portico as the thirty-first President. At
that moment, a friend of mine from the Italian Embassy passed,
leaving with me a thought that made a deep impression. "Do you
not feel the gruesomeness of it, Madam King?" he asked; "the
inmates of that house forced to witness, day by day, the building
of the scaffold that will eventually behead them."
I smiled at this dramatic statement, feeling that he did not
understand political and social phenomena that exist nowhere else
in the world — conditions that should make the heart of every
American citizen beat with pride ; for in this symbolism of the
President and his surroundings are represented the wishes and
desires of a mighty people ; and at the same time, never for a
moment is he to feel that power is personally his, but that it is his
for only a little season, as the servant of the people.
Ladies of the White House
Mrs. Coolidge has so endeared herself to everyone whose
privilege it was to know her that she will leave in the affections
of the people a place very difficult to fill. The Senate ladies, over
whom she has presided as Honorary President, gave in her honor
their final luncheon, at which she was presented with a magnificent
antique desk — the thing, her secretary told us, she wanted most.
Bought in Alexandria, Virginia, it is a lovely specimen of early
American furniture, about three hundred years old. At the same
time Mrs. Dawes was presented with four handsome silver candle-
sticks. She was kind- enough to say they were just what she
wanted, as it was always necessary for her to borrow those belong-
ing to her daughter.
Mrs. Coolidge made the most gracious response, with a little
history and description of the various desks she had used through-
out her life — a kitchen table with a broken leaf in college days
and on to the White House, and finally this one, which would be
hers the rest of her life. I should like to pay tribute to this
splendid woman of sterling character, in every way an example as
first lady of the land. There were no dry eyes in the group when
she said goodbye to us.
Incidents of 'Moving
Several amusing incidents have been told of the Coolidges
moving out. It seems that they have been deluged with presents,
from solid silver plates — gifts from the cabinet — to ten-gallon hats
from the cowboys. How is the little house in Northampton
going to hold them all ? The President, with his dry wit, has said
to his wife that if she took all of her clothes with her, the family
would have to live in the closet and hang their clothes in the room.
He also called to one of the movers on the van, "Don't try to put
248 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
all those things in the house, or they will stick out through the
windows."
When the bleachers were all finished and the inaugural stands
completed, the trees fairly bloomed with a strange fruit of micro-
phones, while crowds of visitors thronged the streets. There were
flags from practically every window, bunting in red, white, and
blue, uniforms mingling with civilians, shiny top hats, and sombre
frocked coats ; bands playing, the Marine Band and the Navy
Band, and many more ; aeroplanes flying overhead, noise and ex-
citement everywhere for the "big day."
A very amusing cartoon appeared that morning in one of the
Washington papers, showing everybody in the best of spirits,
happy and contented, except the weather man ; he was hanging his
head in bitter shame, for he had predicted rain for the afternoon,
and most unfortunately that prophecy came true.
Arrival of the Guests
Even for those who had passes, the problem that morning
was to get to the Capitol early ; for the streets flowed and over-
flowed with the multitudes. Only two cards were issued to each
Senator for the Senate Gallery, as the space there was limited. So
my father and I were among the fortunate ones that day. The
exercises were to begin at eleven o'clock, the Vice- President to
take his oath of office at twelve noon. Trie delay in assembling
gave us an opportunity to study the galleries and pick friends and
acquaintances. Many Utahns were assembled in that distinguished
gathering — Mrs. George Sutherland, looking very dignified and
charming; Mrs. Cardon and Mrs. Harold Smoot; our own Mrs.
J. Reuben Clark, and on the floor of the Senate, Mr. Louis S.
Cates.
At eleven o'clock Vice-President Dawes called the Senate
together for the last time. At this moment, Miss Trumbull,
fiancee of J;ohn Coolidge, came into the Senate Gallery. A few
minutes later Mrs. Coolidge and Mrs. Hoover arrived together.
Mrs. Coolidge was dressed in a new beige costume with a becoming
hat to match. Her face wreathed in smiles, she radiated her usual
graciousness, bowing and nodding to friends on all sides. She
made her greetings with an occasional wave of the hand. Mrs.
Hoover wore plum color, most becoming to her white hair. With
their arrival, the gallery arose and stood until they were seated
At 11:56 the diplomatic corps was announced, led by Sir
Esme Howard, the British Ambassador. The foreign diplomats
in bright and colorful uniforms made a great spectacle with their
gold braids and medals. Next came the membership of the House
of Representatives, led by Speaker Longworth. In a few minutes
the entire chamber rocked with applause when Mr. Curtis arrived
and seated himself at the side of the Vice-President. There was
THE INAUGURATION 249
an immediate hush when. President Coolidge and Mr. Hoover
entered, to be followed by another outburst of applause, the entire
body of the Senate standing. Vice-President Dawes then de-
livered his farewell address, administered the oath of office to his
successor and left the dais. Vice-President Curtis, alert after his
thirty-four years of service, assumed his office with a sharp bang
of the gavel. The Senators were then sworn in for the Seventy-
first Congress by the new Vice-President.
The Oath of Office
Shortly after noon, Herbert Hoover became President of the
United States. The oath was administered on the East Front of
the Capitol by Chief Justice of the United States, William Howard
Taft: "You do solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United 'States, and will, to the best
of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution
of the United States."
Those time-honored and impressive words, uttered in a firm
voice by the Chief Justice, and the solemn response, "I do," by
President Hoover, were heard by thousands in a down-pour of
rain and by tens of thousands over the magic of the radio. Around
the new President, on a specially constructed platform, stood
Calvin Coolidge, honored throughout the world, now but a private
citizen, the chief officers of the Government, and representatives
from all nations.
Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge then left for the Union Station,
dividing the interest with President and Mrs. Hoover, who were
escorted to the White House.
The procession that followed proceeded along historic
Pennsylvania Avenue, which had been changed from an ordinary
thoroughfare to a court of splendor. Twenty thousand persons
composed the parade, with a display of aircraft overhead.
Luncheon was served at the Executive Mansion for the chief
actors in this drama. Later, they were escorted to the Court of
Honor before the White House, from which they witnessed the
parade. Washington, famous for its parades, is famous, also, for
its manner of handling them. This big panorama moved forward
without disorder, taking about three hours to pass a given point.
Beginning with General Summeral, our sixth general, ranking
with Washington and Pershing, it was a magnificent spectacle of
methodical marching, crack units. Indians from the West, who
were supposed to march, but were forced to ride to protect their
gorgeous regalia, were followed by contingents of Governors and
their aides.
The Grand Committee Ball
After so strenuous a day the President and his Lady spent
250 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
a deservedly quiet evening in their new home. The public who were
gathered to honor them this' day were not so inclined and a group
of public-spirited Washingtonians conceived the idea of having
what they called an inaugural charity ball, knowing what the
attitude of the people would be. Upon former occasions the
inaugural ceremonies ended with a magnificent ball in the evening.
In later years, however, this custom has been departed from, with
only a ceremonial ball under appropriate committees.
Two tiers of boxes, each selling for $100 and more, were
arranged around the huge auditorium. Through the center lead-
ing to the stage an aisle was roped off through which visiting
Governors and their aides were escorted. The ceremony, accom-
panied by appropriate martial music, was stirring, the presentation
of the Governors lasting for an hour. Promptly at 11:15 the
Vice-President and his party arrived; amid thundering applause,
he and his Lady were accompanied to the stage. More than eight
thousand persons were on the floor that evening, and the pressure
of the crowds made movement well nigh impossible. But, as the
carnival spirit of gaiety prevailed, no one seemed to mind the
mighty concourse. With flags and streamers the hall was a riot
of color. Bands played continuously and a gorgeous array of
gowns were worn. To me the most impressive sight of the
evening was the magnificent troupe of Kaw Indians who had
journeyed from their homes to do honor to their Brother who
had so honored their tribe. Dressed in their holiday finery of
white skins and colorful feather bonnets, they were splendid
specimens of humanity, both men and women. They were the
outstanding bits of picturesqueness of the evening, and when a
powerful young Indian brave mounted the stage and stood beside
his famous kinsman and, in a thundering voice, sang the "Star
Spangler Banner," I am sure that everyone felt the evening well
spent. And so ended the Inauguration Day, March 4, 1929.
Lines of a Young Mother to her New-Born Son
By Alice Sessions Willardson
Little mite, Come thou far, Little stranger,
Son of mine; Son of mine? You're my love !
Soul so white, Want to stay Come to me
Pure, divine. For all time ? From God above.
To My Mother
By Constance Quayle Cannon
Gracious, gallant, tender, true —
Those are things I love in you.
Laughing, loving, calm, and kind,
My ideal in you I find.
Peace you carry in your heart,
And you use it to impart
Strength to others, till it seems
You bring courage, hope, and dreams.
Mem'ries of you are a shrine
Burning in this heart of mine
Till its gleaming, golden light
Guides me safely through the night.
And at last 'tis this I pray
Striving, yearning, day by day :
Somehow, somewhere, may I be
Nearer your nobility.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Mottcf — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES RO'BISON' President
MRS. AMY BRDIWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Miss Alice Louise Reynolds
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mra Elise B. Alder
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Barbara Howell RichardsMrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edwards, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - - ' Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager - Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI MAY, 1929 No. 5
EDITORIAL
President Hoover's Prohibition Pronouncement
Throughout the land there is joy and rejoicing because of the
prohibition pronouncement of President Hoover in his inaugural
address, delivered March 4, 1929, in the city of Washington, D. C.
Carlton M. Sherwood, in an article, " Prohibition's First Real
Chance," says : "At last prohibition has a vigorous and outstand-
ing defender in the person of the President of the United States.
Since its inception, prohibition has needed moral support from the
White House. This it has not had in the past in any real sense.
Prohibition has succeeded exceptionally well despite this lack, but
with such support it would have succeeded immeasurably better.
"In the ten minutes following his inauguration, President
Herbert Hoover said more in support of the great national policy
of' prohibiting the liquor traffic than has ever been said by any
President at any time. He did not evade. He recognized the issue.
He put it first in his inaugural. As though to give redoubled em-
phasis to the message to his countrymen, at the close of his
inaugural oath, he leaned over the Bible and kissed the well known
eighteenth verse of the twenty-ninth chapter of Proverbs— 'Where
there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law,
happy is he'. , *
"In our judgment, Herbert Hoover will do again and again
what he did in his inaugural address in bringing the vital import-
EDITORIAL 253
ance of this question to the mind and heart of all the people. In
his first message, President Hoover drove home the fact that 'it
takes two to make a bootlegger', to use the searching phrase of
Professor Horace D. Taft, brother of the Chief Justice of the
United States. Already there is a new conscience abroad in the
land on the matter. Many more or less neutral individuals, who
were left cold by appeals of temperance bodies or lesser person-
ages, have caught the implication and challenge of the President's
inaugural appeal. He undoubtedly will need to speak several times,
emphasizing one phase, and another of this question. He begins
by urging obedience because it is the law. If he continues, he will
need to emphasize obedience not alone because it is the law, but
because it is a good law. Both emphases are important."
It is a source of gratification to all people who really believe
in prohibition to know that President Hoover has already indicated
that he expects to have Congress transfer the prohibition enforce-
ment bureau from the Treasury Department to the Department of
Justice, under the Attorney-General. As it exists at present, the
authority is divided. Placing prohibition in the Department of
Justice, will give to it a unity that has been lacking in the present
system.
"No one can imagine," says Mr. Sherwood, "Herbert Hoover
tolerating either corruption or inaction in the prohibition bureau
or any other branch of the government."
But with all of Mr. Hoover's qualifications and desires, he
cannot accomplish this great work alone. It behooves all govern-
ment officials at Washington to stand squarely behind the President
in this matter, and then, back of official Washington, should come
the united support of all honorable men and women throughout the
United States. It is our supreme chance to show to the world that
the spiritual leadership we have assumed in this matter can be
realized. We are in hearty accord with Mr. Sherwood when he
says : "What, then, is the duty of those citizens who believe in
prohibition ? First, to trust and believe in President Hoover and
give him a fair chance to start on this matter. Next, not to over-
whelm him with advice or to criticise him too quickly on minor
matters. This does not eliminate friendly criticism on vital mat-
ters, but it does preclude hasty and petulant criticism on trivial
questions. He may not always do the wise thing, but it is our
conviction he will always do what he believes to be the right thing.
Let us 'have faith in Herbert Hoover'."
Utah Provides for the Care of the Feeble-Minded
Congratulations to Relief Society workers, to the Utah So-
ciety for Mental Hygiene, and to all Others interested, on the
passage of the bill in behalf of the feeble-minded. The $300,000
voted will make provision for a training school, urgently needed
254 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in this State, as well as for other things that have become in-
creasingly necessary for the best care and advancement of the
feeble-minded. A special commission has the work in hand, and
will look after the location of the school and other matters. Utah
now joins the procession of States. She has reduced by one the
number not making adequate provision for their feeble-minded,
and has added to the long list of States that have recognized such
provision as a necessity for the welfare of their unfortunates.
Who can measure the strength that the Relief Society brought
to this great cause? To those who assisted by carrying petitions
to signers, that the presentation might be forceful, we extend our
compliments and appreciation. A very important piece of work
has been ably put over by the Relief Society. To add to its
efficiency, President Robison has given it much personal attention ;
and the Legislative Committee of the General Board — Mrs. Annie
Wells Cannon, Mrs. Amy Brown Lyman, Mrs. Inez K. Allen, and
Mrs. Ida P. Beal — spent many hours during the different sessions
of the legislature, soliciting the support of members.
Utah Law Prohibits the Advertising of Tobacco
and Cigarettes
Relief Society workers all over the Church will approve the
new law that takes from the billboards of Utah all advertisements
of cigarettes and tobacco. To be sure, we have the decision of
the Supreme Court of the State to reckon with before we are
entirely sure that this measure may become law. We trust that
it will not be found unconstitutional.
Few if any other branches of business put more money and
more art, coupled with a good deal of cleverness, into advertising
than do the tobacco interests. Seeking to win the youth of the
land, they have placed their advertising at such points along high-
ways that it is impossible for people to traverse them, either by
train or car, and not notice their impudent appeals. To have this
advertising material removed will mean much to the morale of
the State, for in the guise of beauty, advertising that is destructive
to both mind and body is paraded by those interested in the sale of
tobacco. Not only does the use of tobacco violate the laws of
health, and the revealed Word of Wisdom, but it makes impossible
a clean, sweet home.
We regret exceedingly that a similar bill failed in the Idaho
legislature. It passed the Senate, but was defeated by a few votes
in the House. We would suggest to the Relief Society workers of
Idaho that they take an interest in this matter, and that two years
hence they send to their law-making body, people who will foster
this very desirable measure.
We congratulate the members of the Utah legislature on this
sensible piece of work.
Absent
By Camilla Woodbury Judd
Why are the little birds so glad today.
Filling the air with music sweet and clear?
Can they be telling us that it is May,
And Mother's Day, dear heart — and you not here?
Why do the roses bloom so rich and bright,
Wafting their fragrant incense far and near?
Why does the sunshine fall so warm and light,
Upon this day of days — and you not here?
Why is the sky so blue, the earth so fair,
As to your grave I come, with flowers and tears?
Dear heart, is it because you're happier there,
Where May Eternal glorifies the years?
Mother-Heart
Nelle Allen Talmage
There was once a child who lived in a castle-like house with
tall narrow windows. Here he lived very much by himself. He
had food, shelter and raiment, yet he always felt hungry and
thirsty and cold. The days were long and dreary, although in a
child's life they should flit by like pretty butterflies in a field of
clover. It was because She had gone !
The yard below was inviting; but when the child reached
;it, he was lonelier than before. You see She had gone away !
And so, day after day, he mourned ; but when the cool dark-
ness drifted into his room and the friendly moon came to keep
him company, he dreamed the dream that brought her back to him.
Often in early summer he had walked with her in the garden ;
— the garden, bordered with fragrant alyssum, bedded with tulips
and hyacinths, — filled with the homey, little, shrinking violets and
sweet-faced pansies. Upon latticed fences, honeysuckle climbed,
making the air fragrant with its perfume. The flowers were dear,
familiar, modest ones; but the loveliest of all was the clump of
Madonna lilies, their tall, green stalks crowned with dazzling white
blossoms — as tall and pure and fair as She had been. Often
the child touched them, and worshipped the beauty and sweetness
of the blossoms. He seemed to nestle on her breast !
There were trees in the garden, large, spreading elm trees,
and a grove of tall, young aspens. The birds in the trees twittered
and sang, and seemed to be telling him of the happy days he had
spent with her. All this came back to him in his dream at night-
fall.
Then there was He — big, strong, busy man. He left so early
in the morning for some mysterious place in the city. The child
had been there once on the cars, and had been frightened by the
clacking of automobile sirens, shrill whistles, and the noise of the
trains overhead. He did not like it, and his dreams of the garden
and Her were much more lovely than his thought of the great
man in the big city. Yet he loved this man, his father. He
came home early in the evening before She had gone and romped
with him. Sometimes he came with her to tuck him in ; She was
always there. But now he stayed later in the big city, and seldom
did the child see him.
But one evening, just after the child had gone to bed, he came
into the room just as he used to do. He had lost the sad look in
his eyes and the child knew that some great news was to be told
him. Expectantlv he held out his arms to his daddy.
"My little son !" he said as he folded the boy to him. "My
MOTHER HEART 257
little son ! Your eyes are the same heavenly blue, — your hair —
Her glint of sunlight."
The child nestled closer.
"Do you miss her, child?"
"More every day, Daddy. I see Her smile on the pansy face;
T see Her eyes in the violets ; I hear Her voice in the song of the
birds ; I smell Her fragrance among the mignonettes. I see Her
in the Madonna lilies. I love the garden because it tells of Her."
The man crushed the boy to him ; then letting him loose said,
"She was an angel, son, — and God needed her to help Him. We'll
always know that and remember Her that way. But the great
and all-wise Father does not want us to mourn and be unhappy.
He has sent another angel to care for us and love us. Some day
soon I'm going to bring her here to be a mother to you. There
are mothers who bear and mothers who rear, and blessed is the
woman who takes some one's else child to her heart. Great is
her love and exalted shall she be !"
And the father bowed his head. The child could not remem-
ber hearing his father talk this way before.
"Is it all right, son?"
"'It is all right, father."
That was all — but, in the darkness, strange fears came on him.
He had heard stories of cruel stepmothers — and a stepmother was
what she would be. Would she walk in the garden under the
spreading elms — among, the strong, young aspens? And the violets,
the pansies, and the honeysuckle — would they greet her? The
Madonna lilies — no! she might enjoy all the rest of the garden,
but the little heaven among the lilies was for Her who had gone
away!
And he fell asleep.
The next morning he wakened early and wondered, "Today, ,
will she come?" But the day passed and the next and the next.
Weeks passed, and then one day the house was in a bustle. Flowers
in all the vases ; curtains, shining white, hanging stiffly from the
poles ; sounds of baking and smells of cooking. Today was the
day for He had come into the child's room and kissed him to
wakefulness, and whispered, "Today she comes, son," and then
had gone out.
The child was dressed in his little linen suit and told to keep
clean and not to play rough. They need not have said that, for the
child had ponderous thinking to do, and he climbed into the big
chair. There he remained. Then it seemed as if She who had
gone, stood by him and smiled. How like a lovely Madonna lily
she looked ! Yes, this other she who was coming might have any-
thing in the garden but the lily. That was sacred to Mother !
The horn of the car! The housekeeper and the maid and
even the cook came strangely quiet into the hall.
258 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
The child uncurled himself from the chair and stood in the
doorway. He should see her before she saw him and then he
could tell.
His father's happy laugh!
A low sweet voice as she greeted the servants !
The child stood motionless looking up into her face. She
was coming toward him — a flush on the cheek — a smile in her
eyes.
She stopped and opened her arms !
The child walked into them! He was no longer hungry and
thirsty and cold. He was warmed and fed by the Mother-love
in her face ! Neither said a word. A warm embrace and a long
look — a parting.
Happy, he started for the outdoors without a kiss for his
father. He knew now ! His father started to call him back —
but the other mother motioned, No.
"Strange child !" said he.
"Wonder child !" said she. The mother in her knew !
Out into the garden went the child, straight to the clump
of Madonna lilies. It was early season, but one tall green stalk
was crowned with a dazzling white blossom.
The child broke the stem.
Reverently he carried it into the house and gave it to his
new mother !
Gifts of Spring
By Grace Ingles Frost
I sit in the shine of the benign sun,
And let all the golden glory of it
Fill my soul.
The greening grass is carpeting my feet,
Great outstretched boughs nearby form haunts of shade ;
And blossoms there are blowing everywhere,
Lilacs and the bride's own graceful wreath,
And tulips, crimson as the lips of her I love,
Are here.
My being thrills with rapture of the scene.
Each quivering, rejuvenated leaf
That sways to gentle rhythm of the breeze,
The red-breast calling blithely to his mate,
The gurgling brook that smoothly flows along,
The music of the wood-dove's fluted song,
These are the gifts that spring brings unto me.
The Face in the Mirror
By Elisabeth C. Porter-Rissanen
Lita, wheeled from the operating table at the maternity
hospital after her baby was born, resembled one of the effigies
on the tombs at Westminster, so still was she, so like ala-
baster. A great peace enveloped her; she only wanted to
rest. The long torture had drained her of sensation : she was
numb. It was after the woman had been purified by the fiery
ordeal of motherhood that the husband usually came forward
and kissed her on the brow. But Joe was not there. Where
was Joe?
That question had harried Lita's mind for the past three
weeks. Her young husband had not come home from his
work one night, and he had never been seen or heard from
since. So certain was she that some harm had befallen him
that she had taken his. description to the police station. The
desk sergeant had smiled skeptically at her, as if lost men
were not an unheard of thing. Someone had remarked that
the men who disappeared were usually the ones who wanted
to. , But they didn't know Joe. She clipped an item from the
paper about an unidentified man being found dead, taken to
the General Hospital, and afterwards cremated. What if
something like that had happened to her Joe? The uncer-
tainty of it kept it mulling in her mind like a puzzle that
cannot be solved.
So the young wife had come to the hospital alone. She
had overheard a conversation relative to herself.
"She thinks that he will come back/' giggled Maggie
Gulliver.
"Why?" asked Mame.
"Oh, she thinks that he's been injured or kidnaped or
something. You remember Annie Godowski ? When her hus-
band found out that she was going to have a baby he went and
left her. After she had given the baby away and gone back to
her job in the candy factory, he came back. She said that
he wasn't mean to her — he just went and left her."
"Like to see me take a man back when he had quit me
once!" said the strong-minded Mame. "When I'm through,
I'm through."
A chill had struck Lita's heart. Did women really regard
men like that? Not in her stratum of society. Joe had rest-
less Viking blood in his veins ; he had always been a wanderer.
It had proved his love for her that he had given up his much
vaunted freedom for it. All her instincts assured her that Joe
260 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
was all right, that he could be depended on, that he would
stick. If a woman couldn't depend upon a man at such a time,
what good was he ?
When Lita was settled in the cool comfort of her bed,
the words of the Latter-day Saint hymn book came to her
mind :
"When through the deep waters I call thee to go, '
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow."
After a while they brought the baby, smelling of fresh
linen and talcum powder.
"He's a pretty baby," the nurse assured her, as she gave
him a drink of water, via a bottle.
Lita had her reservations about this as she surveyed the
red wrinkled visage. (Afterwards, when she saw the others,
she conceded that he was the best looking of the lot.)
"He has darling hands ;" she touched one tiny clenched
fist.
With the miracle of the baby before her in her dawning
mother-consciousness, she remembered the words of a woman
lecturer that she had heard a short time before.
"Love," the psychologist had declared, "is the greatest
thing in the world. It can create life itself."
During the noon hour some of the husbands — who were
privileged visitors — came up. Again Lita had a desolate feel-
ing.
But then she had her baby, while Wilda Bennett, the
girl in the next bed, had lost hers. She lay now with her
crimson kimona thrown across her shoulders like a silken
poppy. When the nurse brought in an armful of roses, she
told her to throw them out.
Wilda, a product of the cabarets, and filled with some of
the false concepts of the age, had viewed her approaching
maternity as a trap in which she had been caught. But when
they took her dead baby to be buried in the cemetery in the
rain, she cried all night. She wanted her, warm in her arms.
Her breasts ached and her. heart hungered for the child she
had not wanted.
How different was the older woman on the other side of
Lita in the ward. She gloried that she had passed on the
torch of life and was planning to build the rest of her life
around her precious baby.
Some commotion was caused by the arrival of the wealthy
parents of Bernice, who came to take the girl mother home.
Bernice, a modern flapper, had married a boy friend instead
of the older gentleman that her father and mother had picked
out for her. With the advent of the grandchild, she had been
forgiven.
The afternoon sun lay across Lita's bed. The air bore
THE FACE IN THE MIRROR 261
the scent of eucalyptus, pine, and the distant breath of the sea.
Below, in some dusty looking palms, mocking birds twittered.
A green parrot, perched in a fig tree, screeched "Grandma."
Across the street, against a yellow wall, red cannas ranged
themselves like an army with banners. Beyond was a splotch
of purple — bougainvella. An acacia tree was in bloom.
Someone had said that her baby had been born on
Hallowe'en. It was the last day of October ; and the contrast
between this flower-decked city of southern California and
her mountain home, came to her mind. In the valleys of the
mountains the harvest had been gathered and stored for the
winter. The grain was garnered and threshed. Apples were
picked. Even the gorgeous autumn leaves of City Creek
canyon would be gone by now, and the maple trees shivering
in their bareness. The tang of frost was in the air. The brave
people of the mountains prepared for the advent of winter.
She recalled a Hallowe'en party of her girlhood, when
they trailed the table with blackberry leaves, and had chicken,
pumpkin pie, and black currant jelly. They had cut faces
out of apples and given a live black cat for the prize. They
had rescued raisins from an alcohol flame, and, gathering
around the fireplace heaped with blazing logs, begged the
"witch" to tell their fortunes. (These had come true as much
as such things generally do.)
The girls had gone into a dark closet, one at a time. Each
lighted a candle and beheld over her left shoulder the man
she was going to marry. The game had been concocted from
the old superstition that on the night that hobgoblins walk,
a girl might really view such a phenomenon.
Lita glanced into the mirror of her dresser. Her eyes
opened wide, for there over her left shoulder was the lost
Joe! A wan-looking Joe with a bandage over his head. He
stood at the back of her bed.
She cried out, but it was no apparition ; for presently the
real flesh and blood Joe knelt by her side and buried his head
in her breast. Her arms went round him. A great content-
ment filled her. Joe had come back as she knew that lie would.
"My Lita I" he murmured, as he kissed her hungrily.
Her hand rippled the blond hair.
"What hurt you, Joe?"
"Auto, I guess. Must have struck me. Concussion of
the brain. Didn't know anything for a long time. Just got
out of the hospital. Went to Mrs, Morris's, and was nearly
crazy when she said that you had come here. You're all right?"
"Sure. You must see the baby, Joe. It's a boy."
"Baby! How old is it?"
"A few hours. It was born this morning."
"Oh Lita!" He took her in his arms.
Invisible Servants of Mankind
By Thomas L. Martin, Agronomist, Brigham Young University
In the soil there are a great many invisible servants of man.
Among these are numerous little green bodies known as algae,
which save nitrogen and ammonia for plants, add valuable gases to
the soil, furnish oxygen to prevent certain plant diseases, absorb
moisture, and help the soil and the plant to produce when drought
comes during periods of low rainfall.
The Life of the Soil
These tiny servants have not always been known. In fact
the science involving the study of soil algae is a most recent one ;
and the part that such organisms play in the economy of the soil
is not all known yet.
What are these soil algae? They are microscopic plants with
various forms. When viewed under the microscope, they remind
one of little kidneys, links of sausage, small intestines of animals,
pieces of asparagus, piles of coins, yeast bodies, or coiled springs.
In describing the various forms, one may use an almost unlimited
imagination. These plants are green, containing chlorophyll, as do
all the regular plants of field and garden. Chlorophyll, as you prob-
ably know, is a substance used by all green plants in making
starchy foods. The carbon dioxide of the air and the water of
the soil are acted upon by sunshine, which has passed through this
green coloring matter, thus making starch. This starch material,
made by the algae, constitutes part of the organic matter so
badly needed by soils.
Important Work of Soil Algae
It is estimated by investigators that there are about twenty-
five to thirty hundred thousand of these algae in an ounce of aver-
age soil. This means that an acre of soil six inches deep, or about
what is usually stirred in plowing, contains about ninety trillion
organisms, a number so large that the imagination fails to com-
prehend it. When one considers the important work these tiny
algae do, even if present in such enormous numbers in the soil,
one must take an attitude of wonderment. They are not all active,
however. They may be found at the surface of the soil, where
they are responsible for the green tinge noticed at the surface of
some of our soils. When in a bad physical condition, soils do not
contain so many algae as do those in better condition. In fact,
the more the soil is worked, the more organic matter it has in-
INVISIBLE SERVANTS OF MANKIND 263
corporated, and the better it is plowed, cultivated, and rotated, the
more plentifully these organisms develop. It is a good thing to
encourage the growth of these organisms for they add to the
soil certain material that is needed for good crop production.
The following are some of the soil benefits derived from soil
algae: Western soils are replenished with the organic matter they
lack as a source of energy for bacteria. Nitrogen bacteria, es-
sential to good plant growth, are supplied with large quantities of
energy from the algae. Soil algae draw upon the carbon dioxide
of the atmosphere and the water of the soil ; then, with the aid of
the sun, they make starch, which contains sun-energy. These
starch bodies are later worked upon by the nitrogen bacteria.
Thus, by aid of these algae, nitrogen and humus are added to the
soil.
Algae Produce the Precious Nitrates
It is claimed by the Colorado experiment station workers
that the nitre spots of Colorado, spots where the nitrates accumu-
late in such large quantities that they become alkaline in their
effects, are due to nitrogen-fixing organisms. Some people criticize
these workers for claiming that these nitre spots are due to bacteria
rather than to alkaline accumulations ; because, say the critics, from
where would come the energy necessary to do so much work ? The
Colorado workers answer that the energy — the starch materials
furnished by these algae — may easily be the source of the nitrogen
bacteria. Be that as it may, students of soil algae feel sure
that these green bodies aid in producing much of the organic
matter needed by bacterial and growing plants.
Nitrogen and ammonia are often in the soil in a form that
is easily lost if growing plants do not use it immediately. The
soil algae draw upon this easily lost nitrogen material and hold
it for the plant to use later on.
Certain diseases of plants flourish in the absence of oxygen, a
disease of rice being very noticeable. In the regions where rice
is grown, it has been found that if these little soil algae are en-
couraged to grow, the oxygen that is given off at the time the
starch is being made by the green chlorophyll, mixes with the
water in the spot where the rice disease is developing and kills the
germs, tit may be that these soil algae are responsible, in at least
a small way, for the freedom from disease among our ordinary
plants grown on fertile soils where many soil algae are found.
There are other reasons why plants resist disease a little more ef-
fectively on fertile soils than on non- fertile ones ; but the algae
probably accomplish much of this result.
Soil algae absorb water quickly and lose water slowly. They
even take advantage of the dew in the early morning, and in this
264 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
way increase the water of the soil. They may thus help the soil
to be carried over short periods of drought.
Algae as Soil-Makers
Another interesting thing about these little organisms is the
fact that they are among the first agencies to attack rocks and
start the decomposition which finally results in soil. We are told
that after the great volcanic outburst of Krakatoa in 1883, the
first organisms to attack the cinders were these microscopic algae.
Algae are jelly-like and absorb much water. When they died, they
remained attached to the cinders, thus providing a basis of organic
material upon which other organisms of a higher nature could
work. Finally, large plants grew, and broke the rock-substance to
pieces.
It is really remarkable how many interesting bits of nature
are at work. Our knowledge of the everyday world is indeed very
limited. Particularly is this the case regarding the soil world. A
little information at times regarding this all important substance,
the soil, the stuff upon which all life depends, will not be unim-
portant if only to develop an appreciation of it. However, there
is a practical phase to most of the important activities in nature.
Consider the algae working for us. They are present in great
numbers, and like the bacteria, they want man to make condi-
tions favorable for their growth. They demand better cultivated
soils, fall-plowed lands, well-manured soils, and crop rotations.
The more we prepare the ground for plant growth, the more
favorable it is for them. And if they are there and healthy they
will do their part in making the farmer's crop a profitable one.
A Carnation
By E. Heloise Merkley
Have you, O Florist, a carnation here,
That's fair enough and sweet enough to tell
My message unto her I love so well?
One blossom, white and pure, for mother dear,
Erect and tall and strong to symbolize
The strength she's given me : yet dainty, so,
And tender like her gentleness I know,
With fragrance, sweet as love from her dear eyes.
One blossom, white as her pure spirit's truth
And beautiful as her soul's radiant youth,
And richly green and strong of leaf and stem,
The petals holding in the heart of them
This tribute that my dumb heart aches with here,
All reverence and love, for mother dear.
Ordinary Mothers Make an
Extraordinary Meeting
By Alveretta S. Engar
The wide-awake bishop of the ward sat on the stand in
Sunday School, looking over the vast congregation, many of
whom were mothers (as it was a special Mother's Day program),
and deliberately selected from the group five mothers to give talks
in the evening service of the regular sacrament meeting.
At the evening meeting he said he thought mothers should
take part in the meetings oftener, as when they were assigned to
do anything it was prepared well and thoroughly ; and though they
were curtailed somewhat in public speaking, they amply made up
for it at home.
The first speaker was the mother of a family of little folks.
She wondered if the bishop's words would stand unquestioned in
her case, for what with preparing the meals for the family, tending
to the needs of the children, supplying the demands of father,
and entertaining company since Sunday School, she had managed
to steal about five minutes time in which to prepare her talk.
She was happy in her motherhood and was thankful that her
mother did not decide she had all the children she coulcj care
for when her family numbered five or six, or seven or eight, or
nine or ten, or ten or eleven ; otherwise, she would not be here
to bless us with her presence. She read several poems from Edgar
A. Guest, appropriate for the occasion.
A young mother, addressing the interested congregation,
said that when she looked at those aged mothers who have been
so loyal to their calling, she was proud of her motherhood and
received daily inspiration from her mother's picture.' It hangs
over the kitchen sink, where so much of her time is spent.
Then, a pioneer, a mother of sixteen children, arose, and
related some of her experiences. She said, "When I was married,
it took us four days with an ox team to go from here to Salt Lake.
When we got home, we didn't have much of a home, nor much to
go into it. We carded the wool, spun the yarn, and made our
clothes. I had to make my husband's suit, too. It sure looked
nice. When we went to a dance, sometimes the men had one
pant leg up over their high topped boots, and one down, but we
sure had a good time. I have had sixteen children and I am
proud of them. I have been fifty-four years getting them off
to school. If you should have gfone to the door of our garage
this morning and looked in, you would believe my children love
266 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
. me, for there was a fine new car with a bow of ribbon stuck on it
for Mother's Day."
A little mother gave the following testimony with a decided
foreign, though highly pleasing accent:
"About twenty-five years ago, in Dresden, Germany, when
I was just a young girl, I was very ill ; the missionaries were
around me praying that I might get well. The final word came
that in order to get better, a change of climate was necessary ; and
then I realized the full extent of a mother's love, for a few months
later my dear mother began packing up things for her only
daughter to be sent seven thousand miles away, perhaps never
to see her again.
"The day finally came, with the promise to return in ten years.
My mother had pretty brown hair ; but the day I left I noticed that
there were streaks of gray, which made me realize what my
mother must have gone through to let her only daughter go. I
came out here, was happily married in the temple, and always
planning when I could return to my mother. At times I would
get quite homesick, so we would go up on temple hill, overlooking
this beautiful valley, and would dream of the time when I could
go back ; and oh ! what a happy reunion it would be. But, sorry
to say, ten years later, when I was going to return, sadness had
come into my life. My dear companion was taken, and I had
three little children to take care of.
"On the day I was married I met a missionary who was
also going to be married. We became life-long friends, and in-
stead of returning myself to see my mother, I saw this couple
going on a pleasure trip to Germany. I had sent a letter telling
mama when they would start and on which steamer they would
go ; I also told her that they were tall, thin, dark people like the
majority of Americans. My mother has a little flower store ; there
she sells the most beautiful roses, which she gets from Italy
the whole year round. When this couple opened her door, she
knew them for she named them by their names! and with tears
in her eyes my dear mother welcomed them as she would have
done her own daughter. I never shall forget the day when this
couple came back. It was in the evening and I had just put my
little children to bed. While the travelers were telling me of their
wonderful trip, it seemed as if I was living my childhood days all
over again ; and now I am going to tell you something, my brethren
and sisters. I sat there listening ; and the tears — no, they were not
tears, it was water that was streaming down my face, for the ,
longing to see my mother was so great.
"All hopes have been given up of ever returning to see her,
but the Lord works in a mysterious way his wonders to perform,
for the visit which I should have made years ago, I am in hopes
ORDINARY MOTHERS
267
will be made by my son when he is called on his mission to my
homeland, and our daily prayers are that the dear mother, who
tearfully waved goodbye to her only daughter, may be kept well
and strong to shower her mother-love upon her grandson."
The two remaining mothers related incidents in the expe-
rience of rearing their children, in which they had been led and
assisted by faith in an overruling Providence, in directing them in
the path, which, so hard to climb at the time, had later proved
to be the successful one.
At the close of the meeting, young people and old felt that
they had been banqueted at a spiritual feast.
Mary Ann Davtes Hemsley and
Seven Daughters
When less than sixteen years of age, Mary Ann
Davies heard the "Mormon" elders in South Wales.
She was later baptized and confirmed a member of
the Church. Soon after her baptism she worked in
ice water up to her elbows to earn money to come
to Zion. While working in the home of Orson Pratt's
sson to earn money to help her parents, her brothers
and sisters, to come to Utah, she met Richard
Hemsley. Later they were married in the Logan
Temple. She is the mother of fourteen children,
ten girls and four boys. She knows what some of
the hardships are in clearing sagebrush land and
developing a new country. Besides helping to edu-
cate and rear her family in the path of righteousness,
she has helped to support her husband and four sons
in the mission field. The picture shows Mrs.
Hemsley and her seven daughters now living.
Speaking of Girls
By Harrison R. Merrill
When I was a boy I was unsophisticated enough to believe
that the dainty manner in which that tantalizing curl hung down
on Mary's forehead or protruded from the corner of Josephine's
cap was entirely accidental. I' know better now.
Charming girls are made as well as born; in fact, I think
they are mostly made. And I don't mind that in the least, pro-
vided the job of making is well and artistically done.
The Associated Women's Organization of Brigham Young-
University, directed by Miss Caroline Eyring, president, and Miss
Audrey Ostlund, vice-president, has been attempting, through a
series of programs during the year, to assist B. Y. U. girls to de-
Miss Caroline Eyring
Miss Audrey Ostlund
velop charm of personality. I like their ideas, for they are be-
ginning, not with the curls and other exterior decorations of the
young lady, but with the interior decorations of the skull — the
brain. They believe that the quality called charm must have its
roots deep if it is to continue under close acquaintance to be charm.
The climax of this drive for personality will come on May 3,
Girls' Day. An elaborate program, which will begin with the
Girls' play on the evening of May 2, and end with the Girls' Day
ball on May 3, has been prepared. One of the features of the oc-
casion will be the banquet at noon on Friday, May 3, when eight
SPEAKING OF GIRLS 269
ladies chosen for their charm in various fields of activity will be
special guests of honor.
These guests are : Alice Louise Reynolds, chosen for her in-
tellectual charm ; Elsie C. Carroll, for her sympathy ; Jennie Brim-
hall Knight, for her culture ; Stella S. Harris, for her companion-
able understanding ; Sina Holbrook, for her home interest ; Achsa
Eggertsen Paxman, for her public service; Lydia Candland, for
her cheerfulness ; and Margaret Summerhays, for her artistic
development.
This activity on the part of these young ladies organized at
Brigham Young University leads me to believe that they know
the value of the mythical thing Mrs. Glynn named IT and that they
are out after IT. After all, no amount of form or color or curls
can make up for that internal light which shines out of the eyes
and speaks from the lips; therefore I am of the opinion that the
young co-eds are on an interesting trail which eventually will lead
them up to beautiful living.
I am only sorry that the women have become the stronger
sex. They work so assiduously for personal feminine charm, and
do -it so openly, that they have "sold" the idea to many of the
young men who, instead of attempting to become more masculine
and more commanding, have aped the ways of their sisters and
have become perfumed and powdered shadows of their progeni-
tors.
Speaking of girls, I am convinced that they will continue to
rule the world. From the back seat it may be, or from the home
possibly, but rule it they will, at least all of the world really
worth while.
The Stork
By Mrs. Grace Woodbury
He's a queer old bird ; he seems to thrive
In climates everywhere ;
Be it hot or cold, or damp or dry,
He doesn't seem to care.
From Canada to Florida,
From Seattle to New York ;
He flies and flies, yet never tires —
This queer old bird, the Stork.
You'd think that when the day was warm,
'And other birds were out,
That then would be the time he'd flap
His wings and fly about.
270 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
But no; I've often noticed that
When he's out for a lark,
Delivering babies 'round to folks,
He'd rather have it dark.
Some days, oh, how his bill does ache !
His wings are tired, too ;
Of babies yet to be bestowed,
There still are quite a few.
'Tis then he doubles up his load,
And hurries like the winds ;
That's why it is some folks get left,
While other folks get twins.
Of course, this stork is rather old,
And his habits seem quite set ;
His memory may be faulty, too;
Quite often he'll forget
That 'twas the shortest while ago
He called on you ; and then
He'll up and bring another one —
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
It's funny how the poorest folks
Are honored by this bird.
He keeps a bringing babies round,
Till he's brought them 'most a herd
Of the nicest kind of boys and girls,
With smiles and joy and health;
He wants to make it up to them
For being short on wealth.
Today we bring the honor due
To this welcome, generous bird ;
For over Nichole's happy home
His napping wings are heard.
He is coming with the springtime,
With the Robin and the Wren.
Let us make his welcome royal, so
He'll be glad to come again.
The Arrow of Chance
By Henry F. Kirkham
Jupiter, the chief god, slowly paced the golden room that
looked forth upon the glories of Mt. Olympus. That his meditations
were not productive of pleasant thoughts, was evident by the
cynical glance he bestowed upon the others — the assembled lesser
gods.
Qjuoth he, "Nobody takes any stock in our pretensions, these
days. Mars and Mammon are the only ones that really earn their
salt. I ought to close out the corporation and shut up shop, for
all the good we accomplish. But ere I do, I am going to have
one more fling at omnipotence."
Reaching for the great bow of Diana, he dipped a silver
arrow in the sacred fire. He then walked to one of the giant
windows of the glittering palace, fitted the arrow to the bow, and,
with a merry laugh, launched the missile into space.
Higher and higher, the shining arrow sped, throwing a trail
of flame like some bright shooting star. Higher and higher, until,
as a single point of light, it disappeared within the blue vault
of heaven.
Who, in that little village, nestling by the fair country-side
of an Irish dell, could have even dreamed of the strange fate that
thus drew nigh from the silent space of night?
Patrick O'Rooke was almost moved to tears as he pondered
on the sad state of his love affairs. For not only was Patrick
the butt of all the village wits because of his trick of day-dreaming ;
he was, also, afflicted with a certain unreadiness of speech, which
rendered abortive all his attempts to wax eloquent in his attempt
to win the heart of Mary Malone. Not that Patrick lacked charm
in the eyes of the fair Mary. His curly hair and manly bearing
could not fail to make an impression upon any romantic girl. But
how could she openly surrender her love to one who was uni-
formly derided?
Now, this strange awkwardness of demeanor was altogether
foreign to Irish traditions. Patrick's mother stoutly maintained
that the whole trouble arose from Patrick's habit of roaming the
nearby woods, when not hanging about the hut of the fair Mary.
Certainly the sylvan denizens who live therein, watch for just
such chances to ensnare the unwary and win them for the forest
ways.
Moreover, Patrick was in no wise troubled while wandering
amid the woodland settings he so dearly loved. Not at all. Each
272 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
flower, each tree, each purring brook, spoke to him in the language
of poetic fancy. The unnatural inhibition, which ordinarily dried
the flow of his spirits, faded away in the solitude of his kingdom
of dreams. Indeed, a perfect flood of delightful imagery often
filled his being, in which he wove airy pictures of manful conquest
untrammeled by the painful limitations of his usual life. Did this,
in truth, prove the fairy spells for which his mother contended?
But, alas ! in the company of his kind or more especially in
the presence of his enamorate, all these enchanting powers van-
ished completely. He could not voice the words of love he so
longed to express ; he could only stutter in the manner of one who
has lost his wits, — a manner that invited the laughter of others and
the embarrassment of his beloved. Hence the doleful appearance
of Patrick as he contemplated the state of his fortune in the
list of love.
To make matters worse, there had entered those same lists
one other suitor for the hand of Mary ; no other, in fact, than
Tim Flinn, the son of the richest man in the little Irish village.
Also, Tim possessed all that Patrick did not in the matter of
speech ; and, in addition, Tim promised Mary the luxury of
material things not in the power of poor Patrick to give — the
visions of his woodland fancies, notwithstanding. However, there
were some who claimed that the intentions of Tim Flinn were any-
thing but honest. Ferhaps the virtuous Mary sensed this state
of affairs, for she would give but scant comfort to Tim's ardent
quest.
Still, there was no telling what might have been the outcome
of this unequal contest in the long run. The probable result of it
was wormwood to the soul of Patrick. It drove him oftener to
his kingdom of romance. There he could bend fate to a softer
outline than the cold facts presented. In this delightful realm
he could expel his hated rival with a jest, or sing such songs
of love that not even a siren could resist. It is even related that,
moved by the sight of fairies dancing in the moonlight, he was
inspired to compose a tender bit of verse, which he tucked beneath
the door of Mary. But unfortunately he overlooked the necessary
signature, so that Mary credited the effort to the ready Tim, who
made no attempt to set Mary right, you may be sure.
Yet, in spite of all these set-backs in his suit, Patrick clung
steadfastly to his purpose. He had an inward conviction that in
some mysterious way there would come a day of triumph — a day
of vindication that would wipe away all the months of humiliation
in one glorious victory. He knew that Mary really loved only
him, could he but assert himself after the manner of other Irish
people. He felt that for the transformation a sort of miracle
was necessary, and continued to hope against hope that the
miracle would presently happen.
THE ARROW OF CHANCE 273
And happen it did ! happen, moreover, under the most weird
of circumstances — co-incident with the natal day of the renowned
St. Patrick, after whom the faithful Patrick was himself named.
Of course the birthday of the Saint was justly celebrated in Ire-
land and in no place more joyfully than in this same Irish village.
After the religious ceremonies, a fine ball was always on the
program. To this ball came all the lads and lassies, dressed in
their best finery ; for it was truly a splendid opportunity to improve
the affairs of the heart, and St. Patrick himself was reputed to
have had a fondness for all true lovers. Perhaps, in a measure,
these facts account for the miracle that came to pass ; albeit, the
heathen gods seem to have had the major share in the results.
It was customary, in this village affair, for all the young men
and women to attend the ball separately. Consequently, a number
of the swains, including Tim Flinn, had arranged to meet at a
certain place near the crossroads and repair thence, jointly to the
ball. But Tim, who, though he openly flouted the suit of Patrick,
secretly had strong misgivings as to its outcome, had prepared a
plan for this occasion that looked to the complete overthrow of
his rival. It consisted of a clever snare that would make Patrick
his own victim and executioner at the same time.
At a dark spot, previously selected for its muckiness, he
caused to be planted a stout stake, attaching thereto a small rope
with plenty of slack. Presently to this spot came Patrick, dressed
in his best suit of clothes and lost, as usual, in a romantic dream
in which the good St. Patrick and sweet Mary Malone were ex-
quisitely blended.
He was greeted by the conspirators effusively, "Hullo,"
shouted Tim. "You're just in time for a bit of sport. We've all
agreed to run a race to the meeting house. The first one gets
his pick of the lassies for the dance. I've been hearing that you're
after boasting of your fleetness of foot. Now, here is a fine
chance to show the lads and get Mary Malone for the first dance."
It so happened that Patrick was rather proud of his ability
as a foot-racer. The note of scorn in Tim's voice decided him
promptly to accept the challenge. Of course, while he set himself
for the race, one of the party slipped the noose of the rope about
his ankle. Naturally, while Patrick started well enough, he came
to a rapid and ignominious end. With a crash that shook the
breath out of him and a splash that covered his only decent suit of
clothes with mire, Patrick landed full in the murky spot that had
been so craftily designed for the purpose. With derisive shouts
of laughter, Tim, and the rest of the plotters, sped away in the
darkness, leaving the luckless Patrick to extricate himself as best
he could.
Patrick had certainly touched the valley of 4espair. He had,
274 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in truth, scarcely the spirit left to untie the rope that had been the
cause of his downfall ; for how could he now in his mud-bespat-
tered garments, present himself at the ball. Still, the thought of
his beloved Mary in the arms of his hated rival was the most
bitter blow of all. It really seemed to him, as he lay stretched
upon the damp earth, that life was a huge mockery, after all, and
that henceforth nothing was worth while.
But, as Patrick thus bitterly meditated, out of the blackness of
the night loomed a bright point of light. Like a splendid shooting
star and with a humming note of exquisite beauty, the strange
object darted downward, swift and sure towards the prostrate
form upon the ground. In vain Patrick, noting the direction of its
flight, sought frantically to avoid it. Squirm as he would, the
descending missile followed, until, with one sure dive, it smote
poor Patrick full in the breast.
Here, however, we have the strangest story ever told! Al-
though transfixed by a great silver arrow, Patrick did not expe-
rience the slightest pain or discomfort. On the contrary, from the
very moment of the impact, he thrilled to the very center of his
being with such an access of bodily vigor and such a surge of
exalted emotions as no mere mortal had ever known before. In-
deed, he was almost suffocated by the tide of new sensations that
encompassed him about as a golden cloud. All trace of diffidence,
all awkwardness of demeanor, all impotence of language, vanished
before the wave in the space of a moment, to be replaced by a sense
of god-like power. He was full, nay, saturated, by the sacred fire
from that far Olympus. Jupiter himself would have been satisfied
with the results had he been present to observe the transformation.
With a cry of joy, Patrick leaped to his feet. More than this,
he actually bounded several yards in the air to show his disregard
of human limitations. He surely did cut a fascinating and unusual
figure, for the outward metamorphosis had been as complete as
the inward change. Gone were the mud-bespattered garments,
replaced by as quaint a combination as could be well conceived —
a sort of compromise between an Irish king and an ancient
Grecian sovereign, the blue coat and green vest of the one and the
purple robe and sandals of the other. In short, Patrick, the erst-
while village simpleton, had suddenly become akin to the gods
themselves. He had entered, in fact, within the very portals of
his kingdom of dreams.
In the midst of his wild capers, Patrick remembered both
the ball and the Machiavellian work of his enemies. Now, indeed,
he would have his revenge ! What a sad awakening lay in store
for Tim and his friends, could they but have seen the transforma-
tion of their victim. That the time of their rejoicing was near tc
an end, Patrick resolved as he plucked forth the arrow and held
it aloft as a sort of scepter. With this resolve he sped, or rather
THE ARROW OF CHANCE 27 S
flew, towards the place wherein the conspirators in high glee
awaited his appearance.
And you may be sure that the confusion was thorough and
complete when, in place of the woe-begone and dilapidated half-
wit they had been posted to expect, there stalked into the ball-
room this most amazing creature — Patrick, to be sure, but oh !
so magnificent a Patrick ! No trace of timidity, no hint of restraint,
marked his regal bearing as he strode through the dancers with the
assurance of the manner born. Never before was so strange a
spectacle seen in all Ireland.
The music of the fiddlers came to an abrupt end as Patrick
made his weird progress towards the huddled group wherein stood
the astonished Tim, the fickle Mary reposing on his arm. Patrick
gave Tim but one withering glance of scorn, "A fine little joke
you played on me, Tim Flinn," he chuckled, "but I know a better
one. Out of my sight, you rogue, and may the devil rly away with
you." Legend has it, too, that at this command, Tim fairly flew
out of the window with some dark shadow at his heels. At any
rate, he was no more seen thereabouts.
Moreover, legend further affirms that Patrick didn't' stop at
the discomfort of Tim. Not a bit of it! "On with the dance,"
he shouted, seizing Mary around the waist and swinging her high
in the air. The rest of the dancers, under an enchantment they
could in no wise resist, followed suit. Even the fiddlers fell
beneath that mad spell, so that they played the wildest music that
ever was heard. Wilder and wilder, they fiddled, and higher
and higher the dancers danced. Indeed, they were, for the most
part, nearer the ceiling than the floor. Finally they all whirled
out of the room into the outer air, and so, on to the Fairy Ring
in the woodlands, the beloved abode of Patrick's dreams.
There, under the silver moonlight, they continued the weird
steps of the ballroom. It "is said that they were even joined by
those sylvan creatures so dear to the heart of all true Irishmen.
Here, also, Patrick whispered sweet words into the willing ears ,of
Mary Malone. Marvelous words they were, too, filled with all
those delightful poetic fancies which Patrick had longed so vainly
to express.
Perhaps they all might have been dancing beneath the moon-
light to this day, if some of the older folks, left behind, had not
bethought themselves of the good Father, and got him out of his
cozy bed, and had him say the words that broke the unlawful
spell. At any rate, presently, the bewildered dancers came trooping
back from the woodlands. That is all but Patrick and Mary.
Many contend that they dance there still. Others hold that
they later paid a hurried visit to that same good Father, and thence
across the seas to the fair country of America. But this is sure —
Patrick had come to his Triumph at last !
Pioneers
A Lantern in Her Hand — Bess Streeter Aldrich
By Lais V. Hales
Bess Streeter Aldrich has written another pioneer novel. Her
mother and father, who were pioneers of Iowa, were full of the
experiences of those early days. Mrs. Aldrich was steeped in an
"atmosphere of reminiscences of river floods, storms, drought,
ox-team trails, log cabins, and snow drifting onto beds."
One day Mrs. Aldrich remarked to her very aged mother how
sorry she was that her mother had endured such a hard life in
youth. Her mother replied, "Save your pity. We had the best
time in the world."
Suddenly it occurred to Mrs. Aldrich that she ought to write
a novel embodying just that spirit — the hardships sustained by
"courage and love and a sense of humor." So she wrote "A
Lantern in Her Hand," which she says she would have written
even had she known that not a single copy would be sold. It is
her bit in honor of the pioneer mother.
Abbie Mackenzie was born in 1845 in the little village of
Chicago, moving with her parents to Iowa, when she was eight
years old. A combination of solid Irish and Scotch aristocrat,
she had the physical attributes of the peasant and the mental traits
of the aristocrat — "the warm heart of the Irish and the steadfast-
ness of the Scotch."
In 1862 Will Deal went to fight for President Lincoln ; and
Abbie realized, as she said goodbye, that her heart went with him.
When Will returned, they were married and went to Nebraska
to live. Days of untold hardship and misery followed. But when
spring came on the Nebraska prairie, Abbie went happily about her
work, "one baby in her arms and the other at her skirts, courage
her lode-star and love her guide, — a song upon her lips and a
lantern in her hand."
Hard years filled with dreams, disappointments, disillusion,
now followed. Then appeared the little school house and unpainted
church ; and the wagons now came west never to return to the
East. Other children came to Abbie and Will ; and as they grew,
Abbie'relinquished her many dreams and lived again in her children.
In the promise of her children's accomplishments, she forgot her
own disappointments. Then, one day, Will quietly died and the
light seemed to pass out of her life.
She recalled what Will had said of death when John was
so dangerously ill. To him death was natural — "wild geese flying
over — cattle coming home — birds to their nests — leaves to the
winter mold — the last sleep, They were all natural ; and yet of
PIONEERS 277
them all, we feared only the sleep." When she had told him that
she couldn't stand it if he were taken away, he had replied, "Yes,
* Abbie girl, you could. It's the people who have loved and then
lost their love — who have failed each other in some way, who
couldn't stand it. Nothing could take away the past from us.
If I were taken, I would go on with you, remembering all you
have been to me."
And now Will was dead. After dark days and nights of doubt,
hope and belief triumphed. Will came to seem very near and
helpful. Time went on ; there were years of almost uninterrupted
success, and there were years when the "crops were still-born in
the womb of nature."
Abbie's children, growing to manhood and womanhood, went
out into the world to live their varied lives. One day Abbie sat
down to write of her feeling during all these hard years on the
prairie, only to find that she must relinquish this dream along with
the many others. The things she wanted to say, she could not.
So she went about her home — the home that she and Will had so
fondly built, making it more beautiful for the home comings of
her children. For, thought Abbie, an old home ought to "stand
like a mother with open arms."
At seventy, Abbie didn't feel narrow, even though she had
hardly been out of her own yard. She felt broad; for had she not
"seen cathedrals in the snow on the Lombardy poplars, the sun set
when the clouds had been piled on the edge of the prairie ?" She
had married, borne children, and looked into the face of death ;
and when you've experienced all these things, your spirit has
traveled far although the body has been confined.
As Abbie thought about it all, it seemed to her that "love was
a light that you carry. At first, childish happiness keeps it
lighted ; and, after that, romance. Then motherhood lights it and
then duty — and maybe after that, sorrow. After that, service
lights it." To Abbie, love was a "lantern in the hand of women."
Shortly before Abbie died, her children all gathered at the
old home. Far into the evening they sat and talked. In their
midst, "rocking and smiling, sat a little old lady who had brought
them up with a song upon her lips and a lantern in her hand. All
the years she had cooked, patched, and washed for them, she had
dreamed dreams; and her children were fulfilling these dreams.
They were doing all the things she had wanted to do and couldn't.
Not only for her children, but, like all other true pioneers, she had
dreamed dreams into the country. She had dreamed the towns,
the cities, the homes, the factories, the churches, the schools, and
they were all here now. And as Abbie looked back, she found that
"some of the realities seemed dreams * * * * but the
dreams, the dreams seemed all real."
One day something happened to Abbie Deal. Late in July on
278 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
a late afternoon, "while suppers cooked and children of the north
end of Cedartown played 'Run, Sheep, Run' in her yard, old
lady Deal died. A neighbor woman found her lying across the
foot of the bed, fully dressed, while the slice of meat which she
had been cooking, burned to a crisp."
This is Bess Streeter Aldrich's new story. It is told just as
her other stories have been told — with simplicity, with beauty,
with appreciation for the humble things and thoughts of life.
Though Mrs. Aldrich senses fully and portrays truthfully the
tragedy and soul-breaking hardships of pioneer life, her books are
optimistic and uplifting. We feel that pioneer life was good
and full of rich reward for those who lived it, provided they
were full of cheerful courage and sturdy faith. Abbie Deal was the
ideal pioneer woman and
"Because the road was steep and long,
And through a dark and lonely land,
God set upon her lips a song
And put a lantern in her hand."
Cross-Sections of Utah History
Among all the books, dealing with past events, that I have
read in years the livest is "The Romance of an Old Playhouse,"
by George D. Pyper — an account of the rise and history of the
famous theatre recently torn down in Salt Lake City, to make
way for modern business.
The book begins, solidly enough, with a calm, lucid statement
of the religious background to the romantic history that follows.
There is "Nauvoo the Beautiful," the "Drama of the Plains," and
a chapter on the. Old Bowery, in which the very earliest plays
were enacted. Then comes an account of the Social Hall, with its
reminiscences of quaint grand balls and stirring dramas, the
programs reproduced. The Camp Floyd Theatre and then Bow-
ring's soon lead up to the building and dedication of the famous
playhouse, "the cathedral in the desert," the Salt Lake Theatre.
There follow chapters of absorbing interest, each a history
complete in itself, and each a faithful cross-section of the life of
the times which it portrays. Here are the early players — the
Irwins and "Brigham's big ten," his ten lovely daughters who
appeared as fairies in a celebrated play of the times. Great actors
— George Pauncefort, Maude Adams, Julia Dean Hayne, and
others — form the chief subjects of successive chapters. George
D. Chaplain in one place remarks that he gave to Janauschek,
who was his ideal actress, a little dog, which he said had been
given to him by Mrs. Scott Siddons. "At Janauschek's death,
CROSS-SECTIONS OF UTAH HISTORY 279
the dog came back to me and I have it yet, but it doesn't run
about much now, because it's stuffed." Such homely incidents
without number make the book invaluable.
We have often been told of late that the best history is that
which gives the most vivid portrayal of the daily lives of the people,
rather than of kings, battles, and politics. Judged by this stand-
ard, "The Romance of an Old Playhouse" is first-class history.
Every chapter is a cross-section of the past not merely complete in
itself, but filled with interesting incidents of both the plain and
the remarkable people. Humor and pathos are so mingled as to
keep the reader passing from smiles to tears, and to hold his
attention with the magic power of actual, often dramatic, pictures
of life.
Open the book where you will, and it offers a new set of in-
cidents fairly tingling with animation and reality. In the entire
342 pages, there is not a dull chapter. The sayings of great men
of the time ; the wit and wisdom of philosophers, the comment
of musicians, actors, actresses ; the parts they took, the history
that their names and acts reveal ; the numerous comic episodes ;
the deep and touching emotion ; and withal, the unmistakable air
of sober truth that permeates the entire volume — these are ele-
ments that impart to the book a thrilling interest and a moving
actuality that hold the attention and stimulate the imagination.
Here one gets clear and definite images and ideas of just what
the people thought, did, and hoped in those earlier days.
I find it impossible really to review the book, for it contains
so many diverse histories. But it is the sort of volume that
one likes to pick up at odd moments, and to read anew, as "with
laughter and with weeping still is the story told" of how well the
people of this region managed to live throughout all the days of
"the hard times."
Notes From The Field
Norwegian Mission.
The following interesting message comes from sisters in the
northern land : "Of course the work here is difficult at times, be-
cause everything must be translated ; nevertheless we are doing our
best to follow the outlines and instructions sent to us from the
General Board. These helps have been greatly appreciated by the
organizations and the northern sisters are most willing at all times
to adopt the suggestions made in the Relief Society Magazine^—a.
fact that has encouraged very much the missionaries." Last Spring
Officers of Norwegian Relief Society
one of the branches put on the little play, "Past Echoes and Pres-
' ent Pep." While there were many difficulties, the production as a
whole was greatly enjoyed, and was followed by the request that
it be put on again. Norway missionaries are so few that it ijs
seldom any pictures from Norway are printed in Church mag-
azines. The following is an exception:
There are now thirteen missionaries for the whole of Norway,
three of whom have been there over two years. In order to
maintain the work, unusual efforts have to be made ; and more
missionaries who have had experience in the organizations at
home are needed. These sisters urge that those who are going
to Norway to take charge should have as thorough an understand-
ing as possible of Relief Society and Genealogical work. In
this field there are wonderful opportunities for advancement. The
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 281
people are interested in the Gospel, and attend the meetings reg-
ularly. In the Oslo branch there are between fifty and sixty
strangers who attend the Sunday meetings, and about forty who
come frequently to the Relief Society meetings. Certainly Norway
is a promising field for activity.
Danish Mission.
"On our Annual Day, March 17, 1929, we had the first Relief
Society conference ever held in the Danish mission. During the
past three years we have held socials in the evening, with ap-
propriate programs and refreshments in honor of the anniversary
event ; but this year a conference, with afternoon and evening ses-
sions, was held in all the organized branches. A uniform program
was carried out, many strangers present expressing surprise at what
they had seen and heard. Members furnished all numbers on the
program, developing their subjects far beyond the expectations of
the missionaries. The mission motto for the year is 'Peace in Our
Homes, Relief Society, and Branches.' This motto was adopted at
our mission presidents' conference in Paris last September, and
makes peace in all its phases our main subject. The first organiza-
tion at home and here in the mission, the purposes and aims of the
association, social problems and how the sisters can best help
deliver the gospel message to the world — these were among the
subjects treated.
"The Danish sisters were elated with the success of the organ-
izations, not only in Denmark but throughout the Scandinavian
mission. The reports given show clearly that the Relief Society
is performing a notable work. Owing to local conditions, meth-
ods here are different from those in Zion. Relief Society meet-
ings are held each Friday evening. The sisters conduct the meet-
ings, but many strangers, especially men, are usually preent. In
conformity with the spirit of the country and with its well de-
veloped program of education, Gospel subjects are taught and
reading is conducted before large classes, the great majority of the
group taking part. The program gives little opportunity for social
and literary work ; but is balanced with musical numbers and read-
ings. Twice monthly, sewing meetings are held, where subjects
pertaining to health and morality, the observance of the Ten
Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, and matters pertaining
especially to Relief Society work are discussed. On the second
Monday of each month a report meeting is held. To conduct the
meetings more nearly in accordance with the plan outlined for
those at home would be difficult because new members are con-
tinually coming in, requiring instruction from the beginning."
German- Austrian Mission.
From this mission field comes a most inspiring program of
activity. During the past year the records of all Relief Society
282 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
organizations have been put on a uniform basis. The aim of each
organization is to have a history of the Relief Society from the
beginning, and copied in the new roll and minute book. Interest
is wide awake and enthusiasm manifest. This year's course of
study consists of : first week, Book of Mormon, readings and testi-
monies ; second week, work and business ; third week, nutrition ;
fourth week, literature. "In searching for the best and latest
material for the lesons on nutrition," writes Sister Valentine,
"1 have met a number of prominent doctors who are writing on
this subject. Among them is Dr. M. Vogel, Director of Nutrition
in the Hygiene Museum at Dresden. In conversation with him I
told him about the Word of Wisdom, which was given to our
Church in 1833. He became interested and asked for an article
about it. An article was prepared and sent to him. In December
we received a copy of Hygienischer W ezweiser, quite a select
monthly magazine published by three noted doctors as literature
for the museum. This number contains our article. We made
leaflets of the article, one of which I am inclosing. Dr. Vogel
has asked for the information concerning the fruits of teaching the
Word of Wisdom ; we are glad, of course, to prepare it for him.
In connection with our nutrition lessons, we are using a booklet
written by him. The work of the visiting teachers will be em-
phasized here in the coming year, keeping in mind the message that
Sister Widtsoe gave each Relief Society, that of maintaining peace
in the home, the Relief Society, and the branch. To assist thQ
visiting teachers a teachers' visiting book was printed during
December."
BROKEN TOYS
By Mary C. Martincau
They lay before me, on the floor,
Their precious broken little toys,
And consternation looks at me
From saddened eyes — my little boys.
We gather up and try to think
That maybe they can mended be,
Though some, I know, e'en at a glance.
Have done their last to furnish glee.
And as my little fellows sleep,
My mind counts up my joys of yore
That mended are ; but some too late
Were loved, and never come the more.
Relief Society Annual Report
1928
Julia A. F. Lund, General Secretary
FINANCIAL ACCOUNT
1928
Cash Receipts
Balance on hand January 1, 1928:
Charity Fund $ 32,066.88
General Fund 121,978.07
Wheat Trust Fund 17,749.77
Total Balance, January 1.. $171,794.72
Donations Received During 1928
Charity Fund $90,284.18
General Fund 123,736.33
Annual Dues 22,697.68
Other Receipts 66,098.98
Total Receipts $302,817.17
Total Balance on Hand and
Receipts . ". $474,611.89
Cash Disbursements
Paid for Charitable Purposes. . .$100,836.76
Paid for General Purposes 136,206.72
Wheat Trust Fund Remitted to
Presiding Bishop's Office.. 3,194.63
Annual Dues Paid to General
Board and to Stake Boards. 25,835.85
Paid for Other Purposes 32,328.48
Total Disbursements $298,402.44
Balance on Hand December 31, 1928:
Charity Fund $ 32,872.28
General Fund 128,737.85
Wheat Trust Fund 14,599.32
Total Balance, December 31. $176,209.45
Total Disbursements and
Balance on Hand $474,611.89
284 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Balance on Hand December 31, 1928:
All Funds $175,620.19
Wheat Trust Fund Deposited at
Presiding Bishop's Office... 402,U7.U
Other Invested Funds JS^ijHf
Value of Real Estate and Bldgs. 237,608.^1
1 Value of Furniture and Fixtures. W»7.31
Other Assets 26,333.41)
Stake Board, Cash Balances on
December 31, 1928 28,148.84
Other Assets 51,47o.3Z
$963,128.97
$ 79,625.16
Total Assets $1,042,754.13
Liabilities: , 1<;, „
Indebtedness $ J'3S, H
Balance Net Assets 961,964.64
Stake Board Indebtedness 202-54
Balance Net Assets • • 79,422.62
$963,128.97
$ 79,625.16
Total Net Assets and Lia- $1,042,754.13
bilities v
STATISTICS
Membership :
January 1, 1928:
Executive and Special Officers.. 10,377
Visiting Teachers ^'^
Members — 31,371
Total Membership, January 1 . 62,406
8,107
Increase :
Admitted to Membership During
Year
Decrease : 7 19c
Removed or Resigned 'Ho
Died 838
Total Decrease
Membership :
December 31, 1928:
Executive and Special Officers. . . . 10>£jo
Visiting Teachers 20 ,9 48
Members 31,139
70,513
7,963
62,550
Total Membership, Dec. 31 . . 62'550
RELIEF SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT 285
The total Membership includes :
General Officers and Board Members 21
Stake Officers and Board Members 1,018
Mission Presidents and Officers 77
Number of Stakes 101
Number of Missions 27
Number of Relief Society Ward Organizations 1,452
Number of Visiting Teachers' Districts 10,623
Number of L. D. S. Families in Wards 105,772
Number of L. D. S. women, non-members, eligible 32,419
Number of Relief Society Magazines taken as reported 24,570
Number of Executive Officers Taking R. S. Magazine 5,445
Number of Meetings held in Wards 53,137
Number of Stake Meetings Held 1,964
Number of Stake and Ward Officers' (Union) Meetings Held 952
Number of Ward Conferences Held 1,171
Average Attendance at Ward Meetings 24,775
Number of Visits by Visiting Teachers 700,131
Number of Families Helped 17,550
Number of Days Spent With the Sick 52,796
Special Visits to the Sick and Homebound 189,593
Number of Days Spent in Temple Work 133,362
Number of Bodies Prepared for Burial 2,535
Number of Visits to Wards by Stake Officers 5,032
COMPARATIVE FIGURES FROM RELIEF SOCIETY REPORTS
1926 1927 1928
Paid for charitable purposes $96,017.19
Total or present membership 61,627
No. of Relief Society Organizations.. 1,528
No. of Relief Society Magazines taken. 23,220
Days spent with sick 51,249
Special visits to sick and homebound.. 185,007
Families helped 13,695
No. of visits by Stake Relief Society
Officers to Wards 4,511
No. of visits by Relief Society Visiting
Teachers 688,154
No. of days spent in Temple Work . . 122,031
DISTRIBUTION OF MEMBERSHIP OF RELIEF SOCIETY
Stakes Missions
Arizona 2,100 Australia 77
California 1,368 Canada 146
Canada 1,309 Europe 4,787
Colorado 424 Hawaii '965
Idaho 7,982 Mexico .' 163
Mexico 185 New Zealand 501
Nevada 566 Samoa 308
Oregon 208 South Africa 54
Utah 34,904 Tahiti . . . . 231
Wyoming 1,979 Tonga 104
Total Membership in United States 4,189
Stakes 51,025 Total Membership in
Missions ^. .11,525
Total Membership in Stakes and Mission 62,550
(NOTE: In the foregoing report all funds are held and disbursed
in the various wards, with the exception of the annual membership dues.)
$100,105.39
$100,836.76
61,820
62,550
1,558
1,452
23,575
24,570
52,613
52,796
189,302
189,593
16,762
17,550
5,002
5,032
686,605
700,131
129,368
133,362
Mausoleums
An Old Idea Made New
Man is a tomb-building creature, because in him alone is the
soul which has in it the insistent conviction of immortality. And
this conviction expresses itself not only in his religion, but artis-
tically and objectively in the construction of tombs.
The earliest records we have of the various peoples and civil-
izations that have disappeared in ages gone by are found in the
tombs of their great. The idea is as old as civilization. The
pyramids of Egypt, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus built by
Queen Artemesia in 353 B. C, the Taj Mahal at Agra — the most
beautiful building in the world — are all expressions' of this same
idea.
In our modern time the Pantheon at Paris, and Westminster
Abbey, are notable examples.
The story of the lives of the Pharaohs was brought vividly
home to us by the discovery of their marvelously preserved bodies
in their royal tombs.
In olden times and in Europe, this beautiful type of burial has
been reserved for the rich and the great. It remained for Amer-
ican engineering enterprise to bring it within the rich of the masses.
Now Salt Lake is to have a Memorial Mausoleum — a beau-
tiful home for those we love — a community tomb wherein the
body of a loved one is laid away in its own private vault, or
crypt — in its entirety, as in life — to come forth in the first resur-
rection, after perhaps centuries of perfect preservation — even as
kings of Egypt are being found, just as they were buried four
thousand years ago. How beautiful ! Could any one do more
for the one he loves? Hardly!
Combined in this masoleum will be a majestic dignity, an
original beauty, a permanence and a temple-like structure, which
will be unsurpassed — a fitting home for those who have lived
well here — impreslsive — a cathedral of pure beauty, of noble
solemnity, of restful dignity — yet, with no air of offensive pride.
It is rich, even in its suggestion, yet involving no extravagant
expense. It is in keeping with the desires and needs of this com-
munity and with the wishes of those who sooner or later will rest
there. For those in life who have been accustomed to the best,
only the best is appropriate at life's close — the Memorial
Mausoleum.
SUMMER
TERM
OPENS »v^
Monday, June 3, and
Monday, June 10
L. D. S. Business College
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— a BEAUTIFUL home for those we love —
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to come forth in the first resurrection, after
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Relief Society Conference. Julia A. F. Lund 289
Officers' Meeting — Morning Session... 290
Officers' Meeting Afternoon Session.. 297
Work and Business Meeting 295
General Session — Morning 311
General Session — Afternoon 321
The Best You Can Do Alfred Osmond 331
Evolution of the Ugly Duckling.
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THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI TUNE, 1929 No. 6
Relief Society Conference
Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund, General Secretary
The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints held its annual conference April 3 and 4, 1929, in Salt
Lake City, Utah. President Louise Y. Robison was in charge,
presiding over the general officers' meeting and stake presidents'
meeting, and both general sessions. Eleven meetings were pro-
grammed, also the presidents' breakfast, the reception in honor of
President Clarissa S, Williams, and the meeting of the mission
presidents and former presidents.
The conference opened with the general officers' meeting on
Wednesday morning, for stake officers, board members, and mis-
sion presidents, the attendance being perhaps the largest that the
Relief Society has yet had. The program as printed and distributed
to the various stakes was carried out in every detail. Representa-
tives from 99 out of the 101 stakes, and 5 missions were present,
the roll call showing the following representation : General Board
members, 19; stake and mission officers, 561, including stake
presidents, 99, counselors 117, secretary-treasurers 55, other board
members, 285 ; mission presidents, 5 ; making a total of 580.
The seven department meetings were held on Wednesday
afternoon, with capacity audiences participating.
For the first time since October 7, 1897, the Relief Society
general sessions were held in the Tabernacle. This was not the
usual practice at that time so that in holding the conference in this
building, the Society is inaugurating a new policy to be followed
hereafter. Ushers, provided by the six city stakes — Ensign,
Granite, Grant, Liberty, Pioneer and Salt Lake, gave excellent
service in meeting the people and handling the large number in
attendance. The music was excellent. Mrs. Lizzie Thomas
Eward, director of the Relief Society choir, and Miss Edna Coray,
organist, did their usual fine work ; besides there were special
numbers from the stakes, and from local artists, and two of the
290 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
tabernacle organists, Edward P. Kimball and Alexander Schreiner.
The reception on Wednesday evening, a most delightful affair,
was held in the beautiful auditorium of the Bishop's Building, taste-
fully decorated for the occasion. Here the host of friends and
Relief Society workers had the opportunity of meeting again with
our dear former president, Clarissa S. Williams, and also the new
president, Louise Y. Robison, the First Presidency, other Church
officials, and members of the General Board. Able committees
managed this affair, the city stake presidents acting as hostesses.
One of the most successful meetings of the conference, the
presidents' breakfast, was held on Thursday morning at the Hotel
Utah. It took the form of a round table discussion of important
problems confronting Relief Society workers.
With a record-breaking attendance, the inspirational and in-
structive department meetings contributed strongly to the high
spiritual uplift that pervaded the entire conference proceedings.
Officers' Meeting
Morning Session
President Louise Y. Robison
My beloved sisters : 'If I only had words to express my grati-
tude to you this morning I am sure it would be something greater
than anyone has ever done; but I trust that you can sense my
appreciation, as well as that of my counselors, the secretary and
the General Board, for your loyalty and support.
From the time we were called last Fall, messages have con-
tinued to come in, expressing loyalty and love. We cannot tell
you what this means to us in carrying on the work, and we can
only pray that you will have the same fine support from your ward
workers that you have given to us.
I am sure you are missing Sister Williams this morning, just
as we are. You will be happy to hear that her health is much im-
proved. The reception in her honor will be given here on this
floor, but we shall have the board room open downstairs, and we
ask you just to make yourselves at home. Our hostesses tonight
will be the city stake presidents.
We recognize conspicuously among the other outstanding
things that you blessed sisters have done this winter, your fine
co-operation in pushing needed social legislation. Throughout the
State of Utah the sisters were asked to circulate petitions to be
sent to the legislature asking for a home for our feeble-minded.
The response was wonderful. We have been told by prominent
people, and by the officers of the Mental Hygiene Society, that
had it not been for the Relief Society's efforts, this piece of work
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 291
could not have been accomplished; and we desire to thank you
heartily.
Our message to you today, my dear sisters, is that we are try-
ing just as hard as we know how, to carry on the work that has
been established so beautifully by our mothers and the former
leaders in Relief Society. We have all confidence that you will do
your best, in your individual stakes. If there is anything with
which the General Board can help you, we shall be most happy
to co-operate. Call on us ; make this your headquarters when you
are in Salt Lake. Come in and talk your problems over. No
problems are too small; they are all big, if you are interested in
them. In part we realize what the sisters have accomplished ; but
I think only our Father in heaven knows the full extent of your
work. We have gratifying figures and splendid reports, but I
believe the real spirit of Relief Society work is never recorded. I
think that the angels of heaven are the only ones to keep the rec-
ord of what is being done.
A matter of business that has not been brought before the
people for some time has now reached a point where we should like
to call the attention of the president, and especially of the sister
on the stake board who has charge of the Magazine work, to the
order blanks that we send to the wards, without charge. Encour-
age the sisters in the wards to use these blanks accurately, and to
note any change of address. If they write down when the sub-
scriptions are to begin, we keep them on file and they are of great
help to us. Many fine advertisements appear in our Magazine.
If those who write in from out of town to any who advertise with
us, or if you are in the city and are making purchases, it will help
us and strengthen us greatly if you will mention that you saw the
advertisement in the Relief Society Magazine, and I believe you
will be given better attention as well.
Reports coming in from many of our stakes inquire about
holding meetings on Tuesday night with the other auxiliaries. In
some of the stakes our officers have been perplexed and annoyed
by these inquiries. Now, sisters, we have the word from the Pre-
siding Bishopric that the Relief Societies are not to hold their
meetings on Tuesday night unless it suits their convenience.
During this conference, the general theme for the conference
will be the up-building of our homes ; and I feel that it is a mis-
take even to have Church duties conflict with our work for better
homes.
Since there is a full program this morning, I just want to
pray that the blessing of the Lord will be upon this audience, that
the beautiful prayer offered by Sister Eleanor J. Richards may be
realized by all. I humbly ask that the Lord will protect our loved
ones at home, and that He will be with us here, that we may re-
ceive the things that will be for our best good.
292 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ANNUAL REPORT
Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund* — General Secretary
It is my great pleasure, sisters, to give you a brief statement
of the annual report for 1928. Reports from the various stakes
and missions have been duly received and carefully audited. The
statement that I shall make concerns simply a very few of the
outstanding features ; the report in detail will be furnished you in
the May Magazine. When one is engaged in a special piece of
work, her attention naturally centers there ; never before have I
appreciated what the work of the secretaries of the various stakes
and missions of the Relief Society organization really means. I
thank sincerely all those fine secretaries who have so splendidly
co-operated with the general office in this important labor.
The summary shows the total balance on hand, January 1,
1928, to be $171,794.72; total receipts during 1928, $302,817.17;
total balance on hand and receipts, $474,611.89. The amount paid
for charitable purposes was $100,836.76; the total disbursements
were $298,402.44, leaving a balance, December 31, 1928, $176,-
209.45. The total assets amount to $1,042,754.13.
Number of ward conferences held, 1,171 ; teachers' visits
made, 700,131; visits to the sick and homebound, 189,593; mem-
bership, 1927, 61,820; 1928, 62,550, an increase of 730. The mem-
bership includes 10,463 executive and special officers, 20,948 visit-
ing teachers, and 31,139 lay members. The average attendance
in 1927 was 22,590; in 1928, 24,775, an increase of 2,185. The
amount paid for charitable purposes in 1927 was $100,105.39; in
1928, $100,836.76; an increase of $731.37.
As I have said before, we appreciate the secretaries, and hope
to be of all possible service to them.
MRS. CAROLINE S. HYDE :
Former President, Australian Mission Relief Society
In standing before an audience of this kind, I feel very weak,
as it is something I am not used to. But I know by the audience
that the spirit of the Lord is here, and I am grateful to have the
privilege of reporting, the Australian mission.
Australia is a very beautiful country. There are many fine
people there, and we have five Relief Society organizations fully
organized, and although our membership is small, a good work is
being done by the sisters there. Many of our members have to
travel long distances in order to get to their meetings, and though
transportation is very easy with the electric trains, street cars and
bus system, yet travel takes much time and is expensive. In Aus-
tralia, owing to scattered conditions, we have no visiting teachers,
and one of the presidency or a sister takes one day a month for
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 293
visits to worthy sisters who are not able to attend Society meetings.
The five organizations of the Relief Society are located in
Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The distances
between these towns is from 600 to 1,700 miles. The Relief So-
ciety mission president generally makes her visits during confer-
ence time so that she may have the privilege of traveling with the
mission president. When we remember that Australia is larger
than the United States, with about seven million people, it would
be about the same as traveling from New York to Los Angeles,
and holding conference half a dozen times during that distance.
The sisters are taking up the lessons in the Magazine in their
meetings, and they appreciate them very much, especially the the-
ology lessons. Many of the women are young in the gospel and
young in the organization, and they take a great deal of interest
in the lessons.
A short time before I left, there was a call from the chil-
dren's hospital for a donation from all the churches, several hun-
dred articles being wanted. The hospitals in Australia are kept
up by donations, and make only small charges for service. One
of the elders, operated on for appendicitis, was in a hospital for
two or three weeks at a cost not exceeding $30.
The Relief Society in Western Australia made several ar-
ticles and sent them to the children's hospital. Favorable com-
ment was made, and not long after that, they were asked to join
with other organizations in a bazaar and to share in the proceeds.
The president of the mission thought this co-operation would be
a very splendid thing because the Latter-day Saints would be able
to reach a different class of people, and put their work and some
of the principles of the gospel before them. These two little
charitable acts have done a great deal of good, but a bitter feeling
toward our Church still exists.
TEACHER TRAHNING MEETING
Report by Mrs. Hazel N. Boyack, President,
Big Horn Stake Relief Society
It is indeed a pleasure to stand before you this morning, and
I wish to bring to the General Board and to the sisters in this con-
ference love and greetings from the Relief Society women of the
Big Horn Stake. We want you to know we are one with you in
heart and in the aims and purposes of this wonderful organization.
My theme this morning is the teacher-training class ; I have
been asked to speak on the way we carry it on in our stake. I
think it a very progressive step in our organization. There are
three points I should like to mention: first, it gives a personal
touch to the visiting teachers' work that it has lacked before ; sec-
ondly, it gives them a little added training; and thirdly, because
294 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of the great number that this department can reach (in our stake
38% are visiting teachers), it enables this department, if carried
on as it should be, to stimulate every member of our organiation.
In the Big Horn Stake the winter has been severe, the thermome-
ter going thirty and forty degrees below zero, and we have had
much snow. In spite of that handicap, our work has improved
every month. During January four out of nine wards reported
100% ; the rest were up in the nineties. During February six out
of the nine had 100%. One ward has had 100% for fifteen months
— a remarkable record.
One other thing that I think has contributed much to the
teachers' work is the visiting teachers' testimonials, with the ward
presidents as hostesses. They serve perhaps a three-course lunch-
eon, have snappy toasts and good music, and get a short response
from each visiting teacher. These teachers go away with a de-
termination to reach 100% in efficiency. This plan has worked
very well, and the teachers feel that they are being noticed.
Report by Mrs. Julia E. Parry, President, North Weber
Stake Relief Society
Having tried the new teachers' plan for the four months, wc
feel that it would be a splendid thing to have the sisters attend
the one o'clock meeting for the inspiration that comes from these
wonderful lessons. In our four city wards we have great suc-
cess, some of the wards reporting 100% in attendance ; but in
the country wards it is different. In a farming community there
is always a dinner to get for the men who are working and for
the children who come in from school ; therefore it is impossible
to get the sisters to the one o'clock meeting. They are trying it
out, and they think it a wonderful plan, but the hour that has been
set is a little inconvenient. As a result, their attendance has not
been so good. They feel that the discussion they have on the
teachers' topic is very helpful, and their meetings have been some
of the very best we have attended. We received strength and en-
couragement by meeting with the teachers and seeing the splendid
faith they have in their meetings. They all feel the responsibility
when we discuss the lesson. We do feel that this is a wonder-
ful plan, but we are not satisfied with the way we are working it
out. We feel that possibly we will have to change our hour. We
feel that the teachers' work is one of the best, and we have will-
ing women in our stake. We desire to support the General Board.
We feel their sweet, lovely spirit towards us, and we enjoy meet-
ing with them. We receive strength from them when we come
to conference. We have the desire in our hearts to do all that they
ask of us. We feel that the sisters with whom we work are very
lovely and desire to do all that is asked of them.
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 295
i
Work and Business Meeting
Report by Mrs. Achsa E. Paxman, President,
Utah Stake Relief Society
In Utah Stake we collect our chanty fund probably a little
differently than most of you do. Some years ago a community
welfare department was established in our Relief Society. Twice
a year, in April and in October, we make collections. Each ward
is assessed according to its population and financial ability to pay.
Last year our assessment for our sixteen wards was $4,860 and
I may say that we always get 100% in, because the rich ward
helps the poor ward.
The work is handled from stake headquarters. Each ward
has a social worker, or the president handles the social work and
reports to the stake headquarters, and the money is distributed
from the stake headquarters to the various social workers or presi-
dents. Of course, our bishops aid in determining the help that
should be given in the various wards.
No money comes in on the second Tuesday of the month,
that being taken care of previously. Our teachers give only their
teachers' topic in the homes, and investigate what the needs are,
which they report to the president. About four years aeo there
were some who felt that a program should be arranged for this
second Tuesday. This was done and was called the special activ-
ity program.
In September, the stake presidents of the Primary and the
M. I. A. gave topics, telling what they hoped to do for our boys
and girls. Many mothers are not acquainted with what their
boys and girls are doing. The attendance in Primary and Mu-
tual has increased through co-operation with the "Relief Societv.
In October a Kensington was given, each member sewing for
over-burdened mothers. In November the special activitv pro-
gram related to the spirit of Christmas and Christmas foods. In
December the topic considered was how a mother may assist in
habit formation and in the sex problems of her children. This
topic was given at one of our group sessions. We divided our
sixteen wards into five groups and a physician gave the instruc-
tion. The wards enjoy coming together, seeing sisters from other
wards, and hearing a good program. It is a very good advertis-
ing medium for the Relief Society, bringing sisters who had not
attended regularly. We planned another general sewing day in
January ; in February, a travelogue of foreign countries, each
ward procuring someone who had traveled abroad to give the talk.
In March we considered trees and birds, this topic being pre-
viously given in union meeting by two professors from the Brig-
ham Young University. The topic for April was home improve-
296 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ment and practical hints on home furnishings. In May, the book
The Fundamentals of Prosperity, by Roger W. Babson, will be
reviewed.
This is the fourth year we have tried this plan. You will
notice that we arranged for two sewing days during this year's
program, which must be just as well planned as the program for
any other day. Our stake this year has made 192 quilts, 37 woven
rugs, and 447 miscellaneous articles.
Report by Mrs. Lettie T. Cannon, President,
Pioneer Stake Relief Society
I am happy to tell you how we put over the Work and Busi-
ness Meeting in our stake. Of course we take it from an entirely
different angle than does the Utah Stake. To me there are two
main divisions of the work and business day — the business part,
and the work part combined with the social. In the business part
of the meeting we have our opening exercises and our preliminary
program, which I feel is a very necessary part of the work and
business day, because in the business meeting we have not a great
deal of business to transact. I would not have this program for
the work and business meeting exceed thirty minutes, as the
women are anxious to get to work, and feel that every minute
taken from their work is a loss. Nearly all the wards quilt. The
women enjoy this as it lends the community spirit. Eight women
usually comprise a quilting group, so that we must provide some-
thing for the other women to work on. In our union meeting we
make suggestions of work, which the presidents carry into their
wards. There should be two or three activities prepared for the
work meeting, which is one of the most fundamental meetings
we have for creating a community spirit. It requires preparation.
Every detail must be planned ahead of time. When the women
come, the sister in charge organizes them, every woman being
taken care of immediately and started to work. Social contact
for the women is important. While we work we can visit and
learn to honor and respect each other.
One organization is typical : There was one quilt ; twenty
other women were making painted candles and artificial flowers.
In another group, five or six elderly women were visiting, talk-
ing over old times, not working but getting social contact. In
one ward at a most successful work meeting, there were nine
members ; two of the women were cutting up old stockings to make
a cushion for the elders administering the sacrament to kneel on.
and another for the bishop's chair. Others were unravelling old
sweaters to be crocheted into an afghan. All were looking to see
what could be done to help the community.
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 297
Officers' Meetings
(Afternoon Session)
THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight presided, assisted by Mrs. Cora L. Bennion
and Mrs. Ethel R. Smith
Mrs. Cora L. Bennion, chairman of the committee on theo-
logical lessons, in presenting the course for the ensuing year, stated
that next year, 1930, marks the centenary of the organization of
the Church. The committee therefore felt that a fitting course
would be one devoted to a study of the Book of Mormon.
'In listening to reports from the mission fields we learn that
the missionaries are distrbuting many copies of the Book of Mor-
mon, giving much time and labor to bringing this valuable book
to the attention of people in the world.
Many testimonies from members of the Church emphasize
the importance of the Book of Mormon and its teachings. We
feel that our members will enjoy a study of the gospel doctrines
that are found within this book, as it explains the gospel in great
simplicity.
Dr. George H. Brimhall, who has written the theological
lessons for the past ten years, was introduced by Mrs. Jennie B.
Knight, who said that he had been her teacher for over fifty years,
and that so far as she was concerned, he was the greatest teacher
she had ever known.
LOYALTY
Dr. George H. Brimhall
First — Be loyal to the great objective of all teaching, leading
others to learn. Not what the teachers do, but what the class is
led to do is the measure of success.
Second — Be loyal to the lesson outline. Supplement it, con-
dense it, and expand it, but don't discard it ; for in so doing you
foster depreciation, which is always depressing to the student, if not
discouraging. Loyalty to outline is loyalty to the organization that
furnishes it. Study the outline with a view of making it sparkle.
Thrd — Be loyal to the rights of class appointees. When a
member of the class has been assigned a part for special prepa-
ration the teacher will see to it that the member has recognition
in the lesson presentation. There is program ethics just as there
is road ethics or banquet ethics or business ethics.
Fourth — Be loyal to the spirit of inquiry. The spirit made
of Joseph Smith a student on his way to become a seer. Encour-
age inquiry, not speculative inquiry but truth-seeking inquiry.
Adam was not afraid to ask, Why men must be baptized ?
298 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LITERARY DEPARTMENT
Miss Alice L. Reynolds presided, assisted by Mrs. Rosannah C.
Irvine and Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Miss Alice L. Reynolds
Member of the General Board
The thought behind the literature lessons of the past six
months has been that of emphasizing social problems that are, or
may be at any time, part of the consideration of a social worker.
We heard of one ward that asked a specialist in literature about
The Devil's Disciple,. This specialist promptly asked, "Wry?
read The Devil's Disciple if you are going to consider Shaw?"
This, of course, was a natural reaction born of a purely literary
point of view, but it implies a course which would upset the whole
purpose of the drama lessons.
The Devil's Disciple was selected primarily for two rea-
sons : first, it furnishes a situation where we have a self-righteous
daughter of New England Puritanism entrusted with the care of
a child born out of wedlock. Many of us have the Puritan back-
ground and might be tempted to treat a child just as Dick
Dudgeon's mother treated Essie. Dick Dudgeon, who is called "the
devil's disciple" is the only person who really has any consideration
for the child.
The second point to be emphasized is brought out in a speech
of Dick's when he says to the minister's wife: Your husband is a
good man, but I fancy he is good because you have helped him
and treated him kindly; and it may be that I am a bad man be-
cause I have been treated unkindly. That is a lesson in environ-
ment.
Again, turning to Galsworthy's play, Justice, we have a num-
ber of social problems presented. There is the motive for the
crime, the matter of the prison, and what is to be done with a
man who has served a prison term and is back in society.
It presents also the situation growing out of Ruth's attempt
to care for her children and the discovery that it is impossible
to do so on the ten shillings a week which she receives for sewing.
All these problems were of concern to Mr. Galsworthy, who was
trained for the practice of law, but who has preferred to present
the injustice that frequently grows out of following the law.
The Yale Review of October, 1921, has this to say of John
Galsworthy: "His work is notable for its economy of words, its
breadth of social sympathy and deep pity, its sharp perception and
extreme sensitiveness." Perhaps we have no other modern play-
wright who has given so much intelligent attention to social prob-
lems as has John Galsworthy, For this reason we selected one
of his plays.
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 299
Joseph and His Brethren is a pageant play, replete with beau-
tiful pictures taken from the Biblical story of Joseph, who was
sold into Egypt. It is not intended to present a social problem,
but merely to bring before the organization a wholesome play
which draws its material from the Bible — a play richly laden with
beautiful passages and scriptural teachings.
Professor Harrison R. Merrill
For the coming year in the department of literature, it has
been decided that a study of literary biography will be both profit-
able and entertaining to our readers. At least nine biographies
will be selected and prepared for study. Since they are to serve
as literary studies as well as accounts of worth-while lives, these
biographies will be selected with great care.
This decision has been reached in a rather logical manner.
In our own day men and women who really are splendid writers
are giving much attention to the writing of biographies and auto-
biographies. It was thought, therefore, that it would be more
profitable to read a well written, fearless, yet sympathetic biog-
raphy of a real person than it would be to read the biography of a
fictitious character such as is found in the best novels. That is,
the committee feels that it would be fully as enlightening to read
the life struggles of an Abraham Lincoln as it would be to read
about the supposed struggles of a Henry Esmond or a Silas Lap-
ham.
This very decision, however, suggests the method to be used
in the study. In the first place, the literary form of the biography
itself should receive attention ; and in the second place, the char-
acter of the person about whom the biography was written should
be considered.
Each month in the Relief Society Magazine will appear a re-
view of one of these books written up in lesson form as a guide
not only to the teacher and to the person who gives the lesson, but
to all who desire to read the biographies selected. An attempt will
be made to have these lessons complete in themselves. Many read-
ers, however, may prefer to read the entire, original biography.
In an early Magazine will appear the names of all the biog-
raphies that are to be studied. It is suggested that the class
leader study her class membership carefully and make her assign-
ments early, in order that the person who presents the lesson may
have time to read and actually study the biography she treats. In
this way the lecture may take the form of a first class book review,
and deal with the literary charm of the biography as well as with
the character it portrays.
Biographies are usually a little more expensive than ordinary
books, because their distribution is rather limited. Wherever it is
practical, therefore, the local town library should be induced to
300 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
secure the books in advance. Librarians usually welcome sug-
gestions for the purchase of books, since the library is maintained
for the use and pleasure of the people who support it.
In towns where there are no libraries, some of the sisters may
perhaps be willing to buy one or more of the books ; or, possibly,
a library fund may be secured by individual contributions to it or
by public entertainments, for its benefit.
The Deseret Book Store in Salt Lake City maintains a travel-
ing library service from which books may be had at a nominal cost.
In some cases, it may be possible to induce the company to place
these books in a town library for the use of members of the Relief
Society.
If the books cannot be secured at all, our readers will have to
rely wholly upon the lessons written for the Magazine. The best
lesson work cannot usually be realized in this way, for it is through
contact with the authors of the biographies that adequate estimates
of the characters are to be had.
A definite attempt will be made to keep the lessons on a plane
which will give them an appeal for all classes of women.
The reading of such preparatory books as "What Can Lit-
erature Do for Me?" by C. Alphonso Smith; "The Interpretation
of the Printed Page," by Clark ; and "The Study of Prose Fic-
tion," by Bliss Perry, will be helpful to those who direct the class
work and to those who review any of these books.
Editor's Note :
The use of these books may be had at many public libraries.
The Deseret Book Company will carry the biographies, but we wish it
understood now, as formerly, that the purchase of these books is optional
with the organizations.
VISITING TEACHERS' CLASS LEADERS
DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter presided, assisted by Mrs. Nettie D.
Bradford
Mrs. Baxter explained briefly the purpose of the teachers'
demonstration in the different homes, and Mrs. Bradford gave the
place of the woman as hostess in the home. The value of the
teachers' message was discussed at some length. Mrs. Emmaretta
G. Brown, President of Granite Stake Relief Society, presented
able arguments in favor of the printed message, while Mrs. Mary
E. B. Fitzgerald first counselor in East Jordan Stake Relief So-
ciety, gave an excellent defense of the oral message carried by the
teachers on their visits. Both were fine examples of the logical
and consistent thinking through of a problem.
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 301
SOCIAL SERWCE CLASS LEADERS DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Inez K. Allen presided, assisted by Miss Sarah M. McLelland
and Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
MENTALLY SUPERIOR CHILDREN
Dr. Dorothy B. Nyswander
Today I am to talk upon a subject which has been of primary
interest to people in general, to educators and to psychologists, for
some hundreds of years. Plato was one of the first persons that
we know of to become interested in this problem of the child. He
set up some very simple tests to pick out the superior child from
the rest of the children of Greece. That was the beginning of
mental testing; and though an experimental attitude toward chil-
dren entirely disappeared during the middle ages, we still feel the
effects of Plato's discriminations in our attitude towards superior
children today.
Brilliant Children Become Leaders of Men
One of the most prevalent beliefs that I have encountered is
that most of our brilliant men today are mediocre as children and
did not do very good work in school. If we should make an
investigation of the American and British men of science, Ger-
man men of science, and men of letters in these three countries, we
should find that they have been exceptionally bright from earliest
childhood, and that the majority of them did excellent work in
high school and in college. The one who does not do exceptional
work in school, and who does not show signs of brilliance in child-
hood, is the exception.
We should realize that brilliancy is something characteristic
in the young child and in youth, not something sporadic, but some-
thing consistent. However, many children who do not show these
signs of brilliancy may fail to do so because of lack of opportu-
nity, because they have been brought up in a rural community
which did not offer advantages for bringing forth the superior
mental equipment which they possessed. When the boy who has
been brought up in a rural community goes to college, he becomes
interested in his work, and shows signs of brilliancy which were
dormant in his home town. That does not mean that this boy
was stupid as a young boy, but only that he failed to get interested
in the work the rural schools gave him.
Bright Children Do Things Their Own Way
Another common error is that genius and insanity are linked
together. I have known parents of a brilliant child to be con-
cerned about his sanity. There are just as many people who be-
come insane from a 'mediocre background ; that is, there are no
302 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
more people of genius who become insane than come from other
ranges of mentality.
But the brilliant child refuses to be circumscribed by conven-
tion, refuses to see the importance of all behaving according to a
given social pattern ; whereas the child who is less brilliant does
not observe that most of us behave after a commercial pattern.
Most of us do not resent the fact that there are certain laws which
we must all obey for the good of society.
Many parents have a child who is much more clever than they
are; and this child, being so clever, wants to be an individual who
does not wish to conform to the rules of society. We see that
time and time again, but on the other hand we see the same pat-
terns of behavior demonstrated by children who are feeble-minded,
and by children who lack intelligence to appreciate the rule. The
point I want to make is this, that the superior child alone is not
the only type of child who refuses to abide by the laws of con-
vention, and by our social laws. Hence the importance of his train-
ing in the home and school where he is taught to appreciate and
to understand the laws of society, and where he is shown that the
best good for himself and the best good for society can come from
his observance of these laws. Where you fail to teach this to the
brilliant child, he builds up habits of his own and becomes a social
rebel.
Intelligence Differs in Quantity
Sometimes we think of the brilliant child as absolutely dif-
ferent from other children; but when you study intelligence in
children, you find that the thing children differ in is not in the
quality of their intelligence, but in the quantity. They are not
different. Any one child is not different from another in mind,
but simply in his large degree of intelligence ; and so, we discover in
training the superior child, we should use the same type of train-
ing in the home for actual habit formation that we use for all the
rest of the children.
The superior child is not a different person; his mind works
in the same way, but a little faster. He learns more quickly, gets
insights into situations more readily than other children do; but
the same attitude should be taken toward him as toward the other
children.
Some people have supposed that children who were bright
when they were little, turn toward mediocrity when they get older.
What is the trouble with a judgment of that kind? In the first
place the child may only have appeared to be bright when he was
little. Unless you have a scientific analysis that the child is bright,
you must be very careful in your judgment. Many a school teacher
has been deceived by the looks of a little child sitting down in the
front row. The little child looks so bright, and especially the lit-
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 303
tie girls, who learn to smile at the teacher. That is what many
children learn, and teachers are deceived by appearances.
School Studies May Be at Fault
The other thing that may happen is this, that a bright child
is not interested in any of the school work. That happens time
and time again with children who are very superior in their intel-
ligence, yet who do mediocre work in school. The failure is that
of the school to call forth their intelligence. Another thing that
makes adolescent children appear dull or stupid is the fact that they
are having emotional streaks and social streaks, which keep their
minds from doing their school work. That is something which
all parents should recognize. During adolescence we may get a
sporadic type of work from children which is not consistent. That
type of problem we meet most often in high school work.
Another thing that enters into this problem of the superior child
is our frequent failure to distinguish between the ability of the
child to do mechanical work and creative work. Often a child
with mediocre intelligence is able to do excellent work in arithme-
tic, in spelling, in memorizing music ; such a child may also do
beautiful copy work, and may excel in doing all these things ; yet
he may not be of superior intelligence, nor a child of genius. These
things which I have mentioned are mechanical.
The Mark of Genius
The thing that distinguishes is creative ability. The child
of genius, of superior mentality, is able to create something of his
own, to do something else than copy what others have done. We
can distinguish this quality in very young children. In putting
things together in a new way, or attempting to do something in
a new fashion. In drawing animals or making up words such as
have never been used ,the child uses creative power. Not many of
us have children who have this ability. About one child out of
ten is classified among superior children, and. about one child out
of a hundred is classified among the children of genius. There
we get the distinction. Many of us have a child who is one out
of ten ; but it is a very exceptional thing to find a child who is one
out of a hundred.
Value of Intelligence Tests
Dr. Termain at Stanford University is now making a follow-
up study of one thousand children of genius. I have had the
privilege of being a student in part of this work. The tests were
made on these one thousand children of genius nine years ago, and
research facts have been given to Dr. Termain to enable him to fol-
low up just what is going to happen to these children. Twenty-
five years from now we shall know much more about what a high
304 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
intelligence quotient means than we do now. At present we are
not quite sure what a high quotient means. It is correlated with
learning power, but what has it to do with social ability? What
will these children of genius do as leaders of people, in the busi-
ness world? These are questions to be answered through the re-
search of Dr. Termain.
In studying their physical assets, we find that children of
genius are above the average in height, in weight, and in all health
measurements. We sometimes find frail bright children and
healthy bright children, but the average health of bright children
is above the average of the normal group. They play just as do
the normal children, but their play takes on different character-
istics. They are less fond of group play; they are always trying
to change the rules of the game ; they have creative minds ; they
ask, "Why should we stick by those old rules ?" When the rest of
the group refuses to have the rules changed, they find it more
interesting to play by themselves. They have interest in hobbies
and books. The superior child reads perhaps ten to fifty times
as many books as does the child of inferior intelligence; and they
are books that give them instruction — travel books, nature books,
tales of discovery. They like to read stories about great men,
also to read magazines that tell them how to construct things.
The Scientific Attitude
By virtue of this intelligence test, we have a more scientific
attitude toward the differences in children. Five years ago we
were not able to distinguish between these children in their ability
to learn and in their tendency to achieve greatness ; we could not
tell ; the best thing we could do was to look at them and their school
credits. Parents are not able to tell anything about the brilliance
of their children, because they do not know enough children to
compare them with. I have heard very bright children described
by their parents as not very clever; the standards of the family
were so high in achievement that they had no way of comparison.
The parent is least able to discriminate ; the school teacher does it
a little better because she has many children to compare.
Not a Measure of Emotions
But the intelligence tests have many weaknesses. They do not
measure emotions, trustworthiness, honesty, nor any of those fine
traits that are necessary in children. Because a child has a very
high I. Q., it does not mean that he is going to be a leader of men.
If he develops bad study habits, he will be lost to society. Some
parents think that because their child is above the average in in-
telligence, they have nothing to worry about. That is not true.
Habits of work, industry, temperament; habits of sympathy, of
understanding, of leadership, must be learned. This is something
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 305
to remember when you hear criticism of the intelligence test. All
the intelligence test does is to measure the ability of the child to
learn ; but it does this rather effectively. I should prefer a child
who is of average intelligence, with fine habits of personality and
industry, to work with me, to be one of my students, to be my sec-
retary, to be one of my associates, to one of superior intelligence
without these traits. These things must balance against each other,
and we must understand them when we come to evaluate children.
What to Do With Gifted Children
Just a word on the matter of the education of gifted children.
What shall we do with them? There are various methods for
training them. In some schools we put them in groups and we
call it the superior group. When we do this, and the children
know that it is the superior group, we sometimes get harmful re-
sults, not only as respects the development of the other children,
but harmful results also to the children who are actually superior.
The system is a good one when it is properly worked out. I know,
because I have been part of a school system in which we had chil-
dren classified according to their abilities, none of the children
knowing they were in a superior group or an inferior group. In
other schools, they give rapid promotion. There is no one general
rule that can be set, or used, since each child presents a different
problem. Some children, physically and socially mature, may be
advanced half a year, and, with a little extra teaching, put in an-
other group ; but many bright children are not developed socially
and physically to cope with the children of the advanced groups ;
so that special promotion in many cases does serious harm.
Make Special Study of Each Case
Each case should be a special case to be handled by itself ; in
no school system should a fixed rule be made. What seems of
most benefit at the present time is to give bright children an oppor-
tunity for self expression; to give them books, stories, hobbies.
The bright child who can do the required work in school, can
have a collecting hobby of cards or stamps, or he can build up a
system for himself. If a child is not given something to do, he
will get into bad social or mental habits.
This problem of educating the brilliant child is one that can-
not be neglected. Our object is to give him an education that will
make him a leader, because from the superior children must come
our leaders, since creative work is possible only by them. There
are such children equipped mentally for real leadership. In some
parts of this country we do have to contribute funds for the study
of music and art for the brilliant student, but we have not yet made
communities interested in furthering the intellectual achievement
of a brilliant child in their midst by giving him advanced college
or professional work,
.^06 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
SOCIAL SERVICE CASE WORK DEPARTMENT
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman presided, assisted by Mrs. Emma
A, Empey, Mrs. Annie W . Cannon, Mrs. Amy W. Evans
The subject considered in this department was Social Case
Work. It was discussed as follows: (a) Definition and Scope,
Mrs. Amy W. Evans, member of the General Board; (b) Es-
sentials of a Family Plan, Counselor Amy B. Lyman; (c) Case
Presentations, Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon and Mrs. Emma A.
Empey, members of the General Board, and by Mrs. Lyman. The
object of the meeting was to gain a better understanding of family
problems and of how to help people out of difficult situations.
WHAT IS SOCIAL CASE WORK?
Mrs. Amy W . Evans, Member of the General Board
Case work is difficult to define, but all the cases cited this
afternoon will lead towards a definition.
Social work has several different forms. First, social reform,
which aims, through educational work and social legislation, to
improve conditions in the mass. Obvious results of social reform
are better working conditions, such as the eight hour law, mini-
mum wage, protection of life and health in industry, and child
labor laws. Better health conditions come from protection of the
water supply, milk supply, from pure food laws, public health
movements, tuberculosis campaigns, and better housing. These
improvements result from social reform. Programs for the right
use of leisure time provide further benefits.
One important form of social endeavor is group work. It
includes settlement houses, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, our Bee -Hive
girls, and similar movements.
Social research is a form of investigation which makes orig-
inal discoveries in any field of social work and re-interprets facts
for use in these various fields.
Case work deals with the individual who is striving to effect
a better adjustment between himself and the world in which he
must live. Case work requires insight into personality, which it
aims to develop and change in the right direction ; it must have
insight also into the resources, dangers, and influences of the so-
cial environment of those in need.
Case workers must have the closest association with families
in order to help them in times of crisis and strain. There is no
phase of family life that the case worker does not consider. Our
organization comes into contact with thousands of families and
with all types of family situations. Though case work is old, yet
the systematizing of its processes is comparatively new. These
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 307
processes have been developed out of past experiences of social
research through case work.
Social reform has grown largely out of case work, as case
workers come in first-hand contact with the needs and bring them
to the attention of society.
Mrs. Evans then cited a case illustrating her points.
ESSENTIALS OF A FAMILY PLAN
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman
Mrs. Lyman stated that the object of social work is to con-
serve families — to save and preserve them, to raise human life to
its highest level ; it is not merely to give relief. The giving of re-
lief may or may not be necessary, but if given and wherever given,
it should be in connection with a plan to remedy the whole situ-
ation and not merely to relieve the condition momentarily. It is
often possible to relieve a situation without giving any money relief
whatever. Other instances may require temporary relief only ;
and there are instances where the disability is permanent and
where aid must likewise be permanent.
A plan is an organized scheme for the care and betterment
of a family. Before an efficient plan can be created, careful study
must be made. Such a plan involves gathering all available in-
formation concerning the health, finances, family relations, school
life, and history of the family's past adjustments. Just as a doctor
must know family history and habits to help him in diagnosing a
medical problem, so must the social worker have information in
order to diagnose and solve an economic problem. The doctor can't
make a good plan if he doesn't know the details. Neither can the
social worker. Mrs. Lyman stressed the importance of giving no
relief except emergency relief, unless it is part of a plan.
Two examples of treating families were given — one in which
there was no plan, and the other in which there was a carefully
worked out plan, based upon a knowledge and understanding of
actual conditions.
Some of the disadvantages of giving relief without a plan
were pointed out as follows : danger of either neglect or giving
more assistance than is necessary; the family is wrongly judged;
the family's standards of living are lowered ; nothing is done to
remove underlying causes ; the ward is unable to estimate ac-
counts.
Advantages of giving relief to further a plan were listed as
follows : the family is not neglected nor over indulged ; the under-
lying causes of dependency are corrected or removed ; there is a
closer understanding between ward and family ; the standards of
the family are bettered, not destroyed ; the ward is better able to
estimate accounts.
308 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
GROUP AND FAMILY COUNCILS
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon, Member of the General Board
Having" been a Relief Society worker all my life, I know the
problems that confront you, and how much in need we are at all
times to secure any system that will make the work more satis-
factory. I love the Relief Society work and workers, and am
interested in you all. The. sisters who have addressed you this
afternoon have mentioned some things that we have neglected. One
is, we have not realized that, as taxpayers, we are entitled to assist-
ance from the state, county, and city in our work; and we have
not co-operated enough with them, nor taken advantage of the
opportunities in our midst. We have not such places as settle-
ment houses ; but there are centers where foreign women and
others are instructed in certain things and Americanization work is
carried on.
Then there is the State Department of Rehabilitation. It is
surprising how few take advantage of this splendid work. You
have just heard Sister Lyman tell the story of the boy who lost
his limbs and artificial ones were obtained for him; then he was
referred to the State Department of Rehabilitation, under whose
supervision he was trained to be a telegraph operator, and finally
received fine remunerative work. This department does a splen-
did work, but how many of our women have taken advantage of
this?
It is my privilege to present a case to illustrate one form of
our work, that of group work, and to show how through the coun-
cil a case may be settled without any particular expense. So often
we neglect to bring families together sufficiently, where if we did
they might solve their own problems. The case I am going to
present is the case of a Sicilian family; not local, though it might
happen in mining districts. A Sicilian woman, widowed nine
years, was found living in damp, dark quarters with a little
daughter eleven years old. The mother, who could not speak
English, was suffering from rheumatism. The little girl was
pretty, and left to her own desires, was found wayward and a
truant from school. Here are two problems for the social worker
— the gentle care and comfort of the mother and the proper care
and discipline of the daughter. This case was under the direction
of the social worker for one and one-half years before it was set-
tled. It was finally worked out with visits back and forth between
relatives and other children, which made a much happier condi-
tion in the family life. But it was mainly through the efforts of
the group and the bringing together of the family and co-operat-
ing and counseling with them, that so much good was done at such
a minimum of expense.
Among us we have similar problems and cases. It is not a
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 309
good plan to separate families. In the case cited it was better to
put the girl under the care of a younger woman, than to have her
in her own home ; but as a general rule it is not a good plan to
separate families.
In all our Relief Society work I hope that none of us lose the
real spirit of our calling. I think, in spite of all the technique that
we can bring into our ministry in trying to heal the sick and care
for the needy, we should aim to unite the intelligence of the mind
with the sympathy of the heart, and keep the spirit of the Lord
in our work. The knowledge of good well done is happiness.
CHILD-PLACING
Mrs. Emma A. Empey, Member of the General Board
Mrs. Empey discussed briefly the problem of child-placing
and presented a child-placing case. She stated that there are a
number of reasons for taking children from their homes, but no
home should be broken up because of mere poverty. Immorality,
venereal disease, drunkenness, or feeble-mindedness on the part
of the mother are sufficient causes for the removal of children from
their homes and placing them with agencies qualified to take care
of them. It isn't a hard matter to give a child away, for there are
always plenty of people who want children. But great care should
be exercised in the selection of a home for dependent children. The
social worker should determine the family's reasons for wanting
the child, and their plans for its education and future should be
taken into consideration. The attitude of the other children, if
there are any, toward another child coming into the family, should
be known, also the make-up of the household, the health of the
members, and their relations to each other, the family finances,
their standing in the community and neighborhood, and their
church affiliations. Good placement should provide a dependent
child with the best possible chance of well-being and development.
There are four kinds of homes for children — the free home
where people are willing to take a child and care for it free of
charge ; the boarding home where people are paid for the child's
care ; the working home where the child is old enough to earn his
board; and the adoption home, where children are adopted.
No one, not fully qualified by training and experience, should
undertake this important work.
TRANSPORTATION CASE
Mrs. Lyman discussed a transportation case, showing the
bad results from shipping a homeless man from one community
to another at great expense to the agencies involved, and without
bettering the condition of the man or making him satisfied.
310 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION
Mrs. Evans gave a brief summary of the discussions. She
felt that in all the cases cited the good of the individual was the
main consideration. Personal assets, the family resources, and the
individual resources have all to be discovered and marshalled for
the benefit of the one in need. The Savior spent his life among
those who were unfortunate, saying that the whole needed no
physician. In our efforts to help one another we are helping to
strengthen the chain of humanity ; but we must remember that the
chain is no stronger than its weakest link. In trying to strengthen
the weak links in our social chain, we are rendering a great serv-
ice. We should always keep in mind one of the fundamentals of
social case work, which is that we should minister to the strength
of the people and not to their weaknesses. We can judge all of
our work by that fundamental. If we are helping people to be-
come stronger and to attain a higher plane of living through our
efforts, to that extent we are doing a good work.
National Conference of Social Work
Mrs. Lyman, who is President of the Utah State Conference
of Social Work, announced the meeting of the National Confer-
ence of Social Workers to be held in San Francisco from June 26
to July 3, to which all social workers are invited.
CHORISTERS' AND ORGANISTS' DEPARTMENT
Mrs. Ida P. Beat presided, assisted by Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Mrs. Afton L. Langton took the subject, "What Have You
Accomplished with the Ten Minutes Allowed for Weekly Com-
munity Singing Practice?" Emphasizing the urgent need of sing-
ing practice and the selection of songs that correlate with the les-
sons, she urged that the chorister be thoroughly prepared in ad-
vance, so that the practice can be put through in ten minutes.
Mrs. Pearl K. Davis argued that it is a wonderful accom-
plishment to have the sisters memorize the music. In a demon-
stration of teaching and developing the song, she pointed out that
the chorister should proceed carefully, thoroughly, and teach a
few songs thoroughly rather than to rush rapidly through many
songs.
MUSIC IN THE ORGANIZATION
Professor Edward P. Kimball
When Mrs. Beal said that we ought to know how important
music is in our church activity, the question runs through my
mind, after twenty-five or thirty years of experience, do we really
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 311
know? We are playing music all the time, and if we are to get
the real value out of it, it is not enough just to participate. We
know how to run an automobile if we own one; but if something
goes wrong, how many know how to fix it? Well, music is a
good deal the same. We can all participate ; but how many really
know the music ?
The subject of music is so large that I can hope to strike only
the high places ; but if anything is to be added to religious services
by music, it will not be by mere participation. Music, no more
mysterious than language or washing dishes, must have a place and
purpose in your organization. Its purposes are three : entertain-
ment, worship, and recreation ; and it should be instructive in all
three of its phases.
When we are singing spiritual songs, we should sing them
with the same spirit with which we pray. After one has heard a
piece, he should be richer in soul than before. People learn to
sing by singing, as they learn to spell by spelling.
In my own teaching I find that there are three things neces-
sary— interest, progress, and practice — all closely related. If a
pupil makes no progress he loses interest, and if he loses interest
he will not practice. If you keep your organization singing, not
just casually, but with a purpose in mind, until you are proud of
it, then you will keep your practice moving and insure progress and
interest.
Professor Kimball gave a fine discussion and demonstration of
part singing and time beating.
General Session
(Thursday Morning)
SALT LAKE TABERNACLE
President Louise Y. Robison
We are most happy to greet you here this morning under such
favorable conditions. It seems to me that the women of the Latter-
day Saints should have more gratitude than anybody else in the
world for the restoration of the gospel. You know at the time
the gospel was restored women had very few privileges, in an
educational way, or in a financial way, or even in the home. But
when the gospel was restored, and our Father in heaven gra-
ciously gave that revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith for
Emma Smith and the women of the Church, it seems to me that it
opened the door for women in every direction, and here this morn-
ing the Church Authorities and the Presiding Bishopric have
kindly allowed us to use this magnificent building in which to hold
our meetings.
312 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
In reading magazine articles and in hearing lectures many of
us are truly shocked to hear of home conditions throughout the
world — that people are getting away from the home atmosphere
and those fine high ideals which the Latter-day Saints have al-
ways had. Today we thought it would be profitable to speak about
our homes, as I believe the women of this Church will be called
upon to uphold the standards of real home living; for we believe
that home life will exist in the hereafter. Grateful for the chil-
dren whom our Father gives to us, our best efforts should be to
make of these children the fine, splendid men and women that we
should like to contribute to the Church and to the world. Yester-
day our meetings dealt with outline work ; today the time will be
spent in trying to instill into our minds the things that will help
us in our homes. Latter-day Saint women should have homes
where the spirit of God resides, and from which we may give to
the world boys and girls who are clean, pure, and honest. Elder
Melvin J. Ballard, when going to the South American Mission,
took with him pictures of the mountains ; but when he got to South
America, he found that higher mountains than ours were there.
He took pictures of public buildings, but found in South America
finer public buildings than ours. He took also a picture of a
group of fine boys (and ,1 think he might have taken an equally
good picture of girls), saying, here is a group of young men who
are morally pure, who have never tasted liquor nor tobacco; and
such a picture as that South America could not produce. Now, if
the women of this Church can give to the world, not only a hun-
dred or a thousand, but tens of thousands of boys and girls who
are morally pure and clean, honest in their dealings, and with high
ideals, no other contribution that we can make will be so worthy.
HOME AS A BASIC INSTITUTION
Mrs. Amy W . Evans, Member of the General Board
Home is a basic institution. In the total scheme of things
the family occupies a unique place. It is older than history. It
has come down through the countless changes of the ages, always
meeting the fundamental needs of humanity. Out of it have grown
government, industrial order, and religion. Today, the changing
status of women, brought about by our economic and social de-
velopments due to science and invention, and the complexity of
modern society may threaten the very foundations of the home;
but it is an institution of stout fibre, able to defeat these dangers.
With each change in society, we realize that the family is more
important in the nurture and development of mankind. Society
cannot exist without the background of the hearthstone, the bond
between the generations. The family fulfills the fundamental de-
sire of every human being to possess and to be possessed — to be
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himself and yet to be part and parcel of the life of others, and to
have an anchorage, no matter how he may depart from it. We
believe that family life will still continue to be the anchorage of
the race here and that in the life to come family relationships will
go on; that father, mother, brother, sister, will meet and find joy
and happiness in its sacred bonds.
HEALTH STANDARDS IN THE HOME
Mrs. Emma A. Ewipey, Member of the General Board
Health standards in the home should include sanitation and
public health as well as personal health. No matter how much
effort one puts forth in the interest of personal cleanliness and
personal health, it would be of little avail if one comes in direct
contact with bad sanitation, polluted water, and unclean food. So,
in our health standards, there are two viewpoints to be considered
— public health and personal health.
Relief Society women should be interested in problems of
public health as they affect the home and the community — in the
water supply, in plumbing, in the protection of food from con-
tamination, in proper disposal of garbage, in fresh air, in ventila-
tion of homes and public buildings. Women's influence in this
matter is most telling. The American health standard includes a
yearly physical examination — examination of the teeth and early
attention to the eyes, ears, nose and throat. It is important to
establish, as early in life as possible, proper health habits and
high standards of cleanliness. One of the most important things
in the world is good health, which, like youth, is rarely appre-
ciated until it is lost.
INDUSTRY IN THE HOME
Miss Sarah M. McLelland, Member of the General Board
Industry is necessary to physical and mental health. No
woman who understands the laws of health will shirk activity. All
hygiene advisers declare that beauty is attained only by physical
exercise. Brain work is an absolute necessity for mental health ;
so is physical labor ; neither is complete without the other. With-
out the support of the physical, the spiritual life could not long
survive. Industrious habits have a close connection with peace of
mind ; and idleness is far more dangerous than work ; it is the
nature of life to grow by exercise. It is a moral and social wrong
when girls are brought up helpless in the home. It is still worse
when they come to think it not respectable to be industrious. Girls
should begin when young to take an interest in the family, and
daily should do something for its comfort. What we cause our
children to desire is of more importance than what we make them
learn.
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Industry, whether it be hard labor or exercise of the mind, is
that by which the great and good of our sex have been distin-
guished. It is by the application of this principle to their lives that
women have become truly good or great. It is said of Jesus that
He went about doing good; industry was a prominent trait of His
character ; and no one can truly say he is a faithful follower of
Jesus unless his faith is made manifest by his works.
In the domestic circle, industry makes home happy, for women
require intelligence to guide their efforts and direct their energies.
A short eighty-two years ago, the pioneers, equipped only
with faith and the blessings of industry, came to a vast and va-
cant space. The fruition of their faith is often extolled ; but the
glory of their industry is too often forgotten. Slowly but surely
they wrested from the stubborn earth the necessities of life. The
strength and fibre of our institutions of today are a result of the
toil in the pioneer home.
WHAT MOTHER TEACHES
Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter, Member of the General Board
I am thinking of the Latter-day Saint home where the mother
and her children do the work and the cooking. In this home there
lives the greatest teacher, and she does not know it. This mother,
if she understands her opportunity, will gather her little flock
around her when a new baby is coming into the home, will tell
them that a great event is going to happen — that God is sending
another life into their home for them to cherish. The children
will be awakened to a trust and a love of God that will never leave
them. It will establish a foundation of faith that, though the
waters and the tempests of the world rage about, they will never
affect them. They will look upon the possession of brothers and
sisters as wealth, not as privation, and upon the establishment of
the family as the greatest achievement of life. With this founda-
tion they are ready to go well equipped out into the world.
The naming of the baby should be impressed upon children.
Teach them that it is a privilege to take the baby to be blessed in
the congregations of the Saints, a marvelous privilege that was
given to the women anciently, and is given now. Never mind
whether the baby looks so nice in its clothes, never mind whether
the baby cries, the thing to listen to is the marvelous blessing that
is pronounced upon it — a blessing that will follow it through life.
Then there is the blessing upon the food. We get into the
habit of thinking it is just a little form. No; let the children under-
stand that this is a psalm of thanksgiving to God for making the
earth yield its bounties that we may survive.
Then there is baptism. Mothers, see to it that your children
understand what step they are taking ; let them know the import-
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 315
ance of baptism ; tell them to listen to the marvelous words of the
Elder as he stands waist deep in the water — to listen as he says,
"Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ . . ." Tell them
that nothing greater in the world could be said to them, and they
will not have any fear of the water, and will understand what
baptism means.
This same teaching should be given when they are confirmed
the next day — to listen to the marvelous promises, and to know
that these are given with the same authority that Christ had.
How we love to read the simple narrative of -the first miracle
performed by Christ ! We love it ; we read it again and again.
Do we teach our children that a miracle is performed before their
eyes whenever men holding the authority take sweet oil, used as a
food throughout the world, and consecrate it from a common to
a sacred purpose, to be used in the household of faith? Let the
children see what this wonderful ordinance has done, and let
them know that it was done by the same power that Christ exer-
cised when He changed the water into wine. Thus shall we mag-
nify the little things in our home, and our children shall know
that these are not forms, but the greatest gifts that can be bestowed.
INFLUENCE IN THE HOME
Mrs. Cora L. Bennion, Member of the General Board
Of all human influences, those of home are the most far-
reaching. Recent investigations indicate that character traits are
developed in infancy and childhood. The love natural to mother-
hood is fundamental in child training. It needs, however, to be
guided by intelligence, and by wisdom derived from study. Love
should be manifest always in doing that which will be for the ulti-
mate best good of the child, not merely in yielding to his whims.
This calls for insight into child nature, knowledge of how habits
are formed, and how to use means of control in forming them.
The example of the mother will be very helpful to the child.
Example, always the best teacher, trains in habits of cleanliness,
truthfulness, dependability, and service. By example of parents,
primarily, these should be taught, and by training the child to
behave in these ways.
The home is for the child, not merely for adults, with child
activity branded as a nuisance — an attitude that tends to drive
children away from home and parental influences. Children should
be trained early to work, that is, to perform simple tasks at regu-
lar times as their contribution to family needs. In this way they
develop habits of industry, also individual and social responsibility.
In early youth care should be taken to recognize budding man-
hood and womanhood. The youth cannot be treated as a child.
Thus to treat him insults his personality and endangers parental
316 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
influence. Ordinary shortcomings should be treated with great
patience and hope. We should always see the best that is in him,
and manifest confidence in the possibility of his realizing the best
rather than the worst side of his nature. Help him to overcome
evil with good — to find joy in hard work and high purposes.
One writer has said that parents should try to remain youth-
ful, to see life through their children's eyes, to look at youth's
point of view ; then we might see a decrease in the number of
child problems. By trying to understand our children, we can
make them stronger, better, more helpful, happier and more con-
tented.
A tremendous growth is taking, place during the adolescent
period — a broadening of thinking, a deepening of the emotions.
Problems that cause friction at this time are characteristic of the
period rather than of the child. Remember that "a soft answer
turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger." If we
would control our children, we must learn to control ourselves.
In character we must be what we wish them to become. No school,
however dedicated, no church, however consecrated, can take the
place of home. It is the home and home people that educate for
character.
OPPORTUNITY OF OLD AGE
Mrs. Elise B. Alder, Member of the General Board
"For age is opportunity, no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars invisible by day."
Another writer has said, "To know how to grow old is the
master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in
the great art of living." He further says, "Old age is a time for
learning the relation of past, present, and future. It is the deco-
rative age, when, like the autumn leaves, life may take on its glory."
There are many aged persons who find it possible to enjoy a
fair degree of health, who have good dispositions, and are able to
engage in some helpful employment. There are wonderful oppor-
tunities for the aged to teach the young, both by precept and ex-
ample. As we grow older, life holds for us that which we have
stored up within us. Books leave their traces in our minds ; and
the thoughts, passages and experiences of others we have stored
away, we may call forth at will. Correct English enriches our
lives. Women in middle age are realizing the possibilities and ad-
vantages of training, and are reaching out, and grasping oppor-
tunities.
Teachers and class leaders should not tire in urging to activ-
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 317
ity, in both thought and action, the older sisters who have been
deprived of education, and feel that they are too old to learn. Help
them to realize that it is not so, and that there is always something
for them to learn to do in the Relief Society work. Recall the
words of the Prophet Joseph Smith : "I now turn the key in your
behalf in the name of the Lord. And this Society shall rejoice,
and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from henceforth.
This is the beginning of better days, a new era for womanhood."
Old age, to be truly glorious, must be religious — it must be
founded in ways of righteousness. Our religion, so simple, com-
plete, and beautiful, is the one which was taught by our Lord and
Master, Jesus Christ. It is yours and mine, and if we will but
know it and live it, it will bring joy and satisfaction in everything
that we do in old age as in all times.
HONESTY IN THE HOME
Mrs. Inez K. Allen, Member of the General Board
When the heavens open at the birth of our children, and
mothers are brought close to the Divine, nearer at that time than
at any other, the privilege is not given without great responsibility.
My subject today is honesty — just common, simple honesty. Do
we need more of it in the world today ? We have only to read the
papers to realize that it is one of the great needs of the day.
Honesty is a fine sense of allegiance to one's standards ; it im-
plies high mindedness. Honesty, essential to civilization and to
noble character, is fundamental also to successful co-operation.
Without honesty, even governments crumble and decay. Honest
desires, someone says, are insurance investments against moral
bankruptcy.
Worthy behavior, also delinquency, have their beginnings in
the home, being largely dependent upon honest or dishonest habits
in early childhood. Parents should guard against careless prom-
ises to their children ; but promises when made, either of reward
or punishment, should be kept. Children's questions should be
answered truthfully, avoiding exaggerations. Property rights of
each member of the family should be respected. Articles brought
in should be accounted for, and owners sought for all found ar-
ticles.
Children should learn the joy of earning and deserving what
they have. One author said, "The darkest hour in any man's life
is when he sits down to plan how to make a living without earning
it." Much of the lying among children is motivated by fear, there-
fore better make penitents by gentleness than hypocrites by se-
verity. Trust begets trustworthiness, therefore treat children with
confidence rather than suspicion. "He who practices dishonesty
warms himself by setting fire to his own house."
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THE SPIRIT OF THE MASTER
Mrs. Ethel R. Smith, Member of the General Board
"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou had'st been
here, my brother had not died." If men had exercised more faith
in the power of the Redeemer, and followed his admonition given
as a new commandment to "love one another," peace and love,
instead of strife and bitterness, would have filled their hearts.
It has been my good fortune to witness among us, through
our acts, the presence of the Redeemer, made manifest in our love
for others, and in help extended to lead them in the path of right-
eousness and everlasting life. Sometimes, however, I have been
made to wonder if ever we have caused anyone to cry out in
anguish, as did Martha when her brother died. Are we loyal to
each other, to our officers, to the Priesthood, to the organizations
of the Church? Do we follow the great commandment to love
our neighbors as ourselves? Or do we secretly hate and refuse
to speak to them? Do we take advantage of the widow and the
orphan, or do we exemplify the spirit of the Master by extending
a helping hand? As mothers, do we appreciate the true beauties
of motherhood, the wonderful privilege that is ours, and do we
endeavor to train our children in all righteousness?
At times we are lifted up in vain pride, in under-estimation
of true values, seeking the satisfaction of the moment rather than
eternal treasures. Is the presence of our Master shown by ex-
ample as well as by precept in the training of our children? Or
is it through lack of our effort that they fall or die? May we dili-
gently strive to follow the teaching of the Master, that never
through any act of ours shall we cause our own or strangers to
condemn our course or cry unto the heavens, "Lord, if thou had'st
been here, my brother had not died."
MUSIC— ITS MESSAGE AND MINISTRY
Mrs. Ida P. Beal, Member of the General Board
Music is everywhere recognized as one of the most potent of
civilizing influences. It is certainly inspiring and gladdening in
its immediate effects, and there is scarcely a thinker or philosopher
who does not consider its beneficial effects to be lasting. Appre-
ciation of good music, however, comes through culture.
Music is a universal language — the language of the emotions.
The best music is often the simplest, lying easily within a child's
comprehension, and is a vital factor in his life. Every child should
grow up in a home where music is played and sung, and where
the art is encouraged. It will be a blessed memory to him and his
soul will be sweetened thereby. In these days, music is not looked
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 319
upon as a luxury, but as a necessity — one of the chief agencies for
understanding and enjoyment. One of the elevating and inspira-
tional gifts of God to His children, it spurs us on to deeds that are
higher and nobler, and thus aids in the building of character. In
our material, bustling age, to add balance to our lives, we need
beauty — the message of music to make us sensitive to loveliness.
Community singing has always been a stimulant to tired, weary
men and women ; it was a real tonic to the pioneers as they trav-
eled westward. Music renders a large and liberating ministry to
humanity. It is more than a thing to relieve the tedium of tired
hours, more than a thing to be bought and paid for in concert halls.
All through the ages mankind has found many uses for this art,
especially indispensable in amusement. From the jazz band to the
intricate performance of a symphony orchestra, music has been
the invoker of joy. Where there is music and laughter, there is
gladness of heart. Music is a great asset to the laboring man. His
task is not so irksome and heavy when he has a song on his lips.
One of God's gifts to His children has been music. It is a
medium through which we draw closer to Him, and by which we
express our love and admiration of Him. The song of the right-
eous is a prayer unto God, an expression of divine adoration. The
rich tones of the organ and the radiant strains of song are in-
separable from the common man's idea of worship. Many a man
has been made better, purer and a more liberal Christian by hear-
ing a mighty multitude unite in one loud, glorious song of praise.
LOYALTY IN THE HOME
Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford, Member of the General Board
Many years, even centuries ago, Plato was asked this ques-
tion: "What is the best education?" "It is," he answered, "that
which gives to the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the
perfection of which they are capable."
Beauty is a quality of divinity; to live much with the beau-
tiful is to live close to the divine. "The more we see of beauty
everywhere, in nature, in life, in man and child, in work and rest,
in the outward and the inward world, the more we see of God."
Beauty, like happiness, comes from within.
Much depends upon our own state of mind as to whether we
are happy, and to appreciate the beautiful brings joy and happi-
ness. We must cultivate the ability to see the beauties surround-
ing us, the ear to hear the beautiful sounds on every side, and to
fill our minds with beautiful thoughts. We do not need to have
an elegantly furnished home to have a home of beauty — it is the
lives of those who live therein that make home beautiful.
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MRS. KATE M. BARKER
Member of the General Board
To the women of the Church our Heavenly Father has been
wonderfully good in giving us this organization, where we have
such rich opportunities for service both in relief work and in help-
ing to build up Zion — the abode of the pure in heart. Great as
is the work of relief which seeks where there is anything wrong
to bring the remedy, equally great is the work of prevention. In
looking after the physical health of the community we have learned
that it is not enough to reduce the dangers of exposure to disease,
to the minimum, but it is also imperative to have proper clothing,
exercise, and diet, so that we may build up bodily resistance, so
that we may hedge our youth around and try to shield them from
temptation by forbidding tobacco advertising, by prohibition, and
law enforcement, yet there is but one real safety : We must so
build up the spiritual resistance of youth that it shall be able to
repel temptation. Our great work in prevention consists in build-
ing spiritual resistance within the very heart of the home. Its
work lies with the mothers ; if the mothers are right, the homes
will be wholesome. |If the homes are wholesome, the children
will be strong physically, mentally, and spiritually ; and all will be
well in the state and in the Church.
We cannot separate religion from life ; and if we have built
homes on the spiritual foundation, then everything fine and beau-
tiful that we can bring into those homes is part of our religion.
What makes for better health, for greater satisfaction in life, and
gives us power to develop our inborn possibilities by work and
study, and to honor the counsels and commandments of the Lord
and enjoy the peace and comfort of prayer, than the religion of
Jesus Christ ? All these things are taken into our homes by 62,000
women and will build for the abundant life and the making of a
strong, efficient, happy people.
MRS. MARCIA K. HOWELLS
Member of the General Board
I have lately been thinking of our motto, "Charity Never
Faileth." It brings a satisfying thought — one that we may profit-
ably consider.
You will remember that when the Prophet Joseph organized
the Society in 1842, with its eighteen original members, he told
those sisters that the object of the Relief Society was to save
souls, take care of the poor, minister to the sick, and foster a love
for religion. The Relief Society is doing all these things, and
even more than these original purposes and ideals seemed to sug-
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 321
gest. This wonderful audience today testifies to the growth of the
Relief Society, and shows that it has been a most worthwhile
work. If there could be a record of all the work of the Relief
Society sisters, it would be most interesting. There is not a mis-
sion, stake, or ward where charity work is not being done ; and
when we think that "Charity Never Faileth," it makes us happy.
At the time Jesus was on the earth, He and His disciples
taught charity by precept and example. You know that love and
charity are sometimes used interchangeably. They are much alike,
and we know that God is love; therefore charity is a god-like
characteristic. We are told that charity suffereth long and is
kind, and that charity envieth not, and of the three characteristics,
faith, hope, and charity, the greatest is charity. Since it is so
desirable a characteristic, I wonder if we think about taking it
into our homes as much as we do into the community.
General Session
(Thursday Afternoon)
SALT LAKE TABERNACLE
PRESIDENT ANTHONY W. IVINS
As we came out from the Temple a few moments ago, and 1
saw this line of women coming to the Tabernacle, I asked if it was
in the Tabernacle that the Relief Society conference was to be held.
The answer was yes, and I wondered why that was necessary. It
is all explained now that I see this large congregation.
Yesterday, as I was at work in my room in the Church
Office Building, I heard a baby voice saying, "Ma ! Ma ! Ma !" I
went to the north window, and there on the lawn, with a woman's
coat under it, I saw a baby sitting. Naturally the child attracted
my attention, and I stood looking at it. In a few moments a
woman, frail looking, came round the corner of the building, went
to the baby, and gathered it up in her arms. A little girl, whose
head came to the mother's shoulder, was walking by her side, and
three little boys, each with a cheap toy in his hands, trotted along
behind. Gathering up the child, the mother said, "Come along,
boys," and started out toward the street.
The whole story was told to me as I stood there looking. The
woman was comfortably, but rather poorly clothed. The clothing
of the children was ordinary, but looked comfortable. They all
appeared to be happy. As I stood there I offered a prayer of
thanksgiving to God our Father for women, for mothers, for
women who were ready to take up the responsibility of wifehood,
of motherhood, of life, even under adverse circumstances, giving,
as I knew this little woman had, her life for those children.
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All the wealth of the world could not purchase one of them
from her. She does not live in a palace, she does not enjoy the
luxuries of life. I do not know who she was or is, but I felt like
going out and blessing her. If it fell to my lot to undertake to
lay the foundations of an empire, a kingdom, I would want just
such women as that, and just such men as I have come in con-
tact with in the humbler paths of life, to go with me to perform
that undertaking.
I am strongly of the opinion that the safety and welfare of
the world have always depended upon women. They seem to
be more susceptible to spirituality. They are attracted to the truths
of the gospel ; they are more ready to make sacrifices ; they are
more devoted and are less likely to forget the covenants they en-
ter into than are men. I would not say this to the detriment of
good men, but I am firmly of the opinion that my conclusion is a
correct one, and I see in this body of women before me what I
saw in that little mother yesterday — women of faith, of devotion,
women who are willing to make sacrifice, women from whom their
faith could not be purchased with the wealth of the world.
I grew up in the Relief Society, my mother being an active
worker in it. I have traveled with her in my childhood as she vis-
ited the stake ; been with her in meetings ; know of her devotion ;
remember the counsels that she always gave ; sense the goodness
of her heart. The poor never passed from our door without re-
lief, and we were not very plentifully blessed with the good things
of life, either; but she fed her thousands, as did her sister, the
mother of President Grant.
When I think of these things I thank God for my mother,
just as your children thank Him for you. I pray that His bless-
ing may be upon you ; that you may continue to become more
numerous, until after a while the Tabernacle will hardly be large
enough to hold you.
PRESIDENT CHARLES W. NIBLEY
My dear Relief Society workers, laborers in the vineyard of
the Lord : I greet you with love and blessing and congratulation
also — congratulation for the splendid work you are doing. What
a world of good these organizations of the Church have accom-
plished since they were first instituted ! We know what the pro-
gram is, what the outline is. We get a general idea of this kind
of work, but I want to say to you that I believe the real work, the
great empire of work, I might say, is done humbly in the wards
of the Church all over the world, where the sick are ministered to,
where our sisters sit up nights, where they minister to the poor.
I have said, thousands of times I suppose, that I do not know
what the poor would do without the poor. That is where the
hard work, the strenuous work, is done. I do not disparage the
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work that is done by these sisters on the stand — they have been
through all that also ; but the untold amount of good, of comfort
and blessing, that has been bestowed by the ministering angels of
the Relief Society, is in all the wards of the Church.
The Lord bless you in this your fine work. Nothing that you
can do is more helpful, I think, in the Church, than the work that
you are doing. It has been well organized during the past years,
it has been well administered, and the Lord's blessing has attended
it and will attend it, I am sure, from this time on. That this may
be accomplished, and that our hearts may be made to rejoice in
the accomplishments of this wonderful organization, I humbly
pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
REVERENCE FOR PARENTHOOD
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon, Member of the General Board
Heaven, I think, is very near us today. While I have been
sitting on the stand and looking over this congregation of women
who are giving great service to the Church, I have also had many
other pictures presented to my mind. This meeting in the Taber-
nacle marks an epoch in Relief Society history. It was not many
years ago when my mother said in the Assembly Hall that the day
would soon come when the Assembly Hall would not hold the sis-
ters of the Relief Society — our membership would have become
so numerous that we should have to hold our conferences regularly
in the Tabernacle. The day has now arrived.
I have felt all through this conference that the spirits of those
loved who have departed, the great women of the Church, are
with us, and they seem to pass before me as in a pageant.
There are many changes taking place in the world today.
There are wonderful inventions and discoveries along all lines,
and as science has changed our mode of life, so has it changed in
many ways our code of ethics and human behavior. While we
realize things are different from what they have been in the past,
still there are some fundamental things that time ought not to
change. Some things, the dearest things in life that we should
cling to, are reverence and love.
In reading the history of the great men and great women of
the world, those who have written their names large on history's
pages, we find the men and women who have held in reverence
their parents. In the last dispensation of the fulness of times there
is nothing lovelier than the story of the Prophet Joseph Smith
and his love and admiration for his mother. It was to his mother
that he went with all his confidences. It was his mother who
helped him conceal the plates of gold before the translation of
the Book of Mormon was completed, when his enemies were haras-
sing him, and trying to steal the plates, and persecuting him. His
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mother wrote the story of his life from childhood, through youth
to manhood, in simple, lovely words. All through the pages of
that little book are mentioned the love and reverence of that man
of God for his father and his mother.
Some things there are in the world more lovely than those
things that can be bought with gold or precious stones : the beau-
tiful things in nature; the joys God has given that appeal to the
inner soul — the red flash of the oriole as it flies across the sky ; the
song of the meadowlark in early spring ; the fragrance of the wild
rose by the wayside ; the lilt of the laughter of a little child at play,
and the love and faith of that little child for the mother and father
who gave it birth. These are the things of the heart that lead us
on to great ideals, and that make for happiness. May the Lord
help us always to remember his mercies, and to obey that great
commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother."
A LATTER-DAY SAINT HOME BASED ON A
KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST
Miss Alice L. Reynolds, Member of the General Board
A knowledge of the divinity of Christ is essential to a Chris-
tian life, and clearly fundamental in the life of a Latter-day Saint.
In our time, many attacks have been made on this truth. Recently
I read a magazine article which said, "If, indeed, Christ was more
than Hamlet" — an intimation that Christ never really lived, but
was the creation of the mind of some literary genius.
A few years ago, on the campus of an American university,
one of the students who had listened to an elder express our belief
in the divinity of Christ, said to me afterwards, "Miss Reynolds,
I was reared to believe the things this gentleman has spoken of ;
but I am afraid to speak of such things on this campus lest I be
regarded as feeble-minded."
In this city I have heard a gentleman say in public address,
that if tomorrow morning we could prove absolutely that Christ
was not of divine origin, the educated class would say, we have
always known that, and the class who are not grouped with the
educated would say, we have always suspected it. Now, you and
I know that, despite the gentleman's learning, he did not state the
fact; because we have the witness of the holy spirit that Christ is
the Son of the living God ; and there is no place that is better to
combat this modern falsehood than in the home.
I make an appeal to parents to guard this sacred truth. The
Book of Mormon is so plain on this matter that practically every
one of the prophets of that ancient record has testified concerning
the divinity of Christ, and has told us also that the knowledge of
His divinity comes through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost.
I am grateful also, more grateful than I have ever been before in
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 325
my life, that in the vision given to the Prophet Joseph Smith the
Father did not say this is Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in
Bethlehem, and was crucified in Jerusalem, but that he said, "This
is my beloved Son," acknowledging His Fatherhood. May this
knowledge become deeper and more a part of our lives every hour
that we live, because it never has been more necessary that we
should know this truth than at the present time.
PRAYER IN THE HOME
Mrs. lennie B. Knight, Member of the General Board
Prayer is thanksgiving and an appeal for divine guidance.
In this day of doubt and criticism, surely we have need of prayer.
Every properly trained Latter-day Saint should be so traditioned
in the habit of prayer, secret and family, that if he neglects this
devotion, his conscience will prick him and he will have a feeling
of something left undone. Train up a child in the way he should
go and when he is old he will not depart therefrom. Regardless
of the perplexing situations which arise to interfere with family
prayer, it should still be a part of our daily program, even though
all members are not always able to participate. "It is a blessed
privilege," says my father, "to be in correspondence with the Lord."
It is a woeful thing not to be on speaking terms with our Father
in heaven.
One dark, cloudy day a mother left her two small children at
home alone while she attended to an important matter. During her
absence a storm broke in with all the fury of thunder and light-
ning. The lightning struck a tree in front of her home. The chil-
dren were frightened, of course ; but when the mother hurriedly
opened the door, she did not find the children screaming or crying,
but, kneeling by a chair in the middle of the room were the little
brother and sister in the attitude of prayer. How had they learned
of this unseen protection?
A group of young matrons were attending a luncheon in honor
of some brides-to-be. Naturally their conversation turned upon
problems of married life. After listening with interest to their
comments, the eldest of the group said, "Well, you will have some
misunderstandings, and maybe you'll quarrel ; David and I do
sometimes ; but when he puts his arm around me and says, 'Come,
now, it's time we had our prayer before I go,' I just can't be angry
any more." Do you think that divorce will ever separate this
couple, both of whom have come from prayer-observing homes?
With what an anchor of trust and safety these children of prayer-
loving families leave their home each morning. Do you think they
are apt to cheat and lie, steal or smoke?
It has been the custom for the married children of a very busy
father and mother to meet at their parental home as often as cir-
326 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
cumstances will permit, to spend the evening together. Invariably
the conversation turns to gospel themes. When time for "Good
Night" comes, the father says, "Let us have our family prayer
before you go." In this family of fourteen there is little, if any,
envy or jealousy, but much of sympathy, co-operation, confi-
dence, yes, and sacrifice, one for the other's sake. Prayer has been
the golden thread that binds their lives together, the anchor hold-
ing them to their ideals, their shield in times of temptation, their
comfort in times of sorrow.
"O, thou by whom we come to God,
The life, the truth, the way.
The path of prayer thyself hath trod,
Lord, teach us how to pray."
READING IN THE HOME
Counselor Julia A. Child
The home is essentially a social organization. It is made happy
and successful only as each member contributes to the welfare
and pleasure of other members of the group. But, however so-
cial and spiritual the members of a family may be, life becomes
clannish and sometimes even sordid without the active influence
of friends and neighbors. A happy home, therefore, means good
and ample friendships that have come to be enjoyed.
Next to friends and personal contacts, however, and some-
what like them in influence, is good reading matter that is used
and understood by the members of the family and considered a
prime necessity. With reading habits well established and care-
fully chosen books and magazines on hand, many hours of leisure
may be both a joy and a source of intellectual growth to the family
group.
Through books we may associate with the best people, enjoy-
ing with them the beauties of life — of color or form or song. By
means of books the world of literature, science, government, and
human activities is brought into the family circle. The mind is
thus provided with wholesome food, the soul inspired to higher
living. The home is primarily an educational institution; good
books are essential, provided also that correct habits of reading
are early established.
A home without books or a family without the ability to read
them is under a serious handicap. One writer has said, "Open the
windows in your children's souls by giving them books — keep them
open by encouraging the reading habit." Parents may early create
in the child a taste for good reading, not only by surrounding him
with good books, but by early awakening within him a desire to
become acquainted with these books. This may be done, first by
story telling, later by reading to the children from classics, fairy
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 327
tales, folk tales, stories of adventure and biographies, including
our own Church works, until they are able to read for themselves.
Then they should be guided through the flood of juvenile books
now available, some good, some indifferent, some trashy, and some
positively injurious.
The habit of reading good books on the part of parents and
children around the fireside, is one that should be cultivated. An
opportunity is thus given for discussing what is being read, and
habits are established that will cling to the child through life.
CHURCH STANDARDS
Counselor Amy Brown Lyman
There are probably no members of the Church who strive
harder to live the gospel, and to keep the commandments of the
Lord, than the women of the Relief Society. I always take it for
granted that Relief Society women are orthodox Latter-day Saints,
that they accept the gospel as a whole and in its entirety, and that
they live according to its teachings. I always feel that they pro-
mote faith, bear testimony, support the Priesthood, and conform
their lives generally to the plan of living which has been estab-
lished by the Church. I am sure that no one who does this will go
far wrong. Even if we did not believe in a hereafter, and were
trying to set up a scheme of living for this life only, we could not
do better than to adopt the gospel standard of living.
My remarks today are not by way of criticism, but of reflec-
tion and review. I think it is a good thing occasionally to take
stock, to review and survey our lives, and to see how nearly we are
meeting the requirements. We are inclined sometimes to think
that if we go to church, and testify of the goodness of the Lord
to us, and of our beliefs — all of which are very excellent things to
do — that that is enough. But I feel that there are a great many
things fundamental to a righteous life ; there are laws to obey,
duties to perform, good works to carry forward, and standards to
reach.
The plan of salvation includes the principles of the gospel and
practical religion, the latter covering instructions on how to con-
duct our lives, on our duties, on our relationship to our Heavenly
Father, and on our relationship to one another. And let me say
that it is much easier to believe and to testify of our beliefs, than
it is to live them.
In the Church today our leaders have set up standards for us,
two or three of which only I shall mention. The 13th Article of
Faith reads : "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent,
virtuous, and in doing good to all men." Do we practice these
things? Are we honest and truthful? Are we benevolent? We
are asked to keep the Sabbath day holy, and I wonder how many
328 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of us do this. I wonder how many of us have standards that will
permit us to go to ball games and picture shows on Sunday, or
allow our minor children to do so. What are our standards with
regard to Fast Day ? Do we keep this law, and do we contribute
funds on this day for the benefit of those in need? And what
about our family prayers ? Most of us, perhaps all of us, pray se-
cretly ; but I am wondering how many of us live up to this teaching,
already commented upon so beautifully. It is quite an undertak-
ing to have family prayers, but I think the mothers can do more to
promote this practice than anybody else.
What about tithing? Do we believe in this principle? And
are we supporting our husbands in this matter ? And are we teach-
ing our minor children to pay tithing? I think that if children
are not taught to pay tithing while they are young, it is almost im-
possible for them ever to obey this law.
One more thing I would like to mention is the Word of Wis-
dom. I wonder how fully we are keeping it. I wonder if we make
excuses because of ill health, and say we cannot get on without
stimulants. I wonder if we set the proper example in this respect
to our little children and grandchildren. Let us review our lives
frequently and see if we are conforming to these rules and stand-
ards and duties which have been given to us.
PRESIDENT HEBER T. GRANT
It is a very inspirational sight indeed to see so many of the
sisters here today. I have often remarked, as did Brother Ivins,
that I have grown up in the Relief Society. I was personally
acquainted with five of the original members listed here when the
Society was first organized. With four of the five I was intimately
associated from my earliest recollection. I rejoice in the wonder-
ful work that has always been manifest in the Relief Society. I
have often said that the picture of the leading women of the
Church, a fair and honest photograph, would be a refutation of all
the slanders that have ever been published against us.
It is impossible for God-fearing women to have anything but
noble faces. The face is an index to the character, and I have had
many people say to me that they thought the finest young men that
they have ever seen are our missionary boys; and the great major-
ity of boys inherit their looks from their mothers.
I know of no personal acquaintance, of any man that has made
a record, that is an outstanding record for integrity to the Church,
and ever accomplished anything in the battle of life, that has not
had a devoted mother. Of course I can only know of my father
by the remarks that people have made to me, as he died when I
was only nine days of age, so that my dear mother had to be both
father and mother to me. She had to be the provider for the fam-
RELIEF SOCIETY CONFERENCE 329
ily, as well as the one on whom devolved the care of the house. I
rejoice in the wonderful example that she set for me.
The principal task of my life has been to encourage people to
do things — to keep the Word of Wisdom, to pay tithing, to teach
the children, and to attend to family prayers. I am not a preacher
on theory of the gospel, but I have tried to encourage people to
do their duty. There is one thing that has been born and bred in
me ; that is the teaching of obedience, by my mother.
If there is one thing more than another that I would like to
do, with the ability which God has given me, it is to impress upon
the hearts of the Latter-day Saints to keep the commandments of
the Lord ; to serve God with full purpose of heart. By so doing
I can promise that you will grow in grace in the sight of God, and
in the light, knowledge, and testimony of this great Latter-day
work.
We have in very deed the true plan of life and salvation, we
have the pearl of great price, we have that which is of more value
than all the wealth and all the honor that can come to a man in this
life. We have that which will take us back into the presence of
God, to meet our loved ones who have been faithful and true. I
ask God to help each and everyone of us that has a testimony of
the divinity of this work, that we can say in all honesty that we
know God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith "is a
prophet of the living God. I also pray that we may so live that
all who come in contact with us may feel the inspiration, may
know that our lives are worthy, and that we may do this and be
blessed by our Father in heaven is my humble prayer in the name
of Jesus. Amen.
PRESIDENT LOUISE Y. ROBISON
My heart is so full of gratitude and thanksgiving that I am
sure I cannot express what I would like to for the loyalty and the
splendid courage of you, my dear sisters, who have left your homes
and your families to come to this Relief Society conference. My
heart goes out in prayer that our Heavenly Father will bless you,
that you will have added strength, faith, and courage; that your
families will be protected in your absence; and that you will re-
turn so full of faith and the spirit of the Lord that the influence in
the home will be most beneficial. I pray too, that we shall enjoy
the spirit of the Lord during the conference of the next three days,
that we shall be filled with His spirit, that it may help us in our
daily lives to live above the disagreeable things, and know that our
Father in heaven is assisting us.
I trust that what has been said here today will enter the hearts
of you sisters, that you may carry this message back to the sisters
in your wards ; not only to those who come out to meetings and are
filled with the desire to do right, but to some who do not have this
330 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
desire ; that you may know how to reach their hearts and help them
so that they will turn in service to our Father in heaven.
We have been so favored in having the spirit of the Lord with
us in all our meetings that I humbly return my thanks for it. I
appreciate the courage and the support we have had by having
here some of the former General Board members, who have helped
to lay the foundation and make our work easy. I would like them
to know that we honor them for what they have done. As a crown-
ing blessing, we have the First Presidency of our Church with us.
As I said in the beginning, my heart is full of gratitude that we
were permitted by the authorities of the Church to meet in this
beauti f ul house today. In the past we have been so crowded in the
Assembly Hall that many have had to stand. But today we have
the Tabernacle, and the organists to render beautiful music on this
marvelous organ. We thank Professors Kimball and Schreiner
for their contribution and the sisters who have furnished the mu-
sic. With all the blessing that I have in my heart I bless you, my
dear sisters. I pray that you will have health and strength, and
fine courage to carry on the work that you have set your hearts
to do. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mrs. Barbara Howell Richards, who was appointed a member
of the General Board of Relief Society, April 2, 1921, was released
during the conference, April 4, 1929.
Reorganizations which have occurred since October, 1928 con-
ference :
Alberta Stake reorganized, August 19, 1928, Mrs. Jane W.
Bates released, Mrs. Dora H. Jacobs appointed President ; North
Sevier Stake reorganized, October 14, 1928, Mrs. Minnie S. Das-
trup released, Mrs. Melissa A. Crane appointed President; Paro-
wan Stake reorganized, November 215, 1928, Mrs. Mary M.
Marsden released, Mrs, Barbara M. Adams appointed President ;
Summit Stake reorganized, October, 1928, Mrs. Florence B.
Crittenden released, Mrs. May Jordan appointed President ; Young-
Stake reorganized, December 9, 1928, Mrs. Johanna S. Smith re-
leased, Mrs. L. Nettie Behrmann appointed President ; Woodruff
Stake reorganized, January 13, 1929, Mrs. Esther Thomas re-
leased, Mrs. Harriet Spencer appointed President ; Juab Stake
reorganized, March 10, 1929, Mrs. Maud Forrest released, Mrs.
Edna Cazier appointed President ; Australian Mission reorgan-
ized, November, 1928, Mrs. Caroline S. Hyde released, Mrs.
Hazel B. Tingey appointed President; California Mission reor-
ganized, March 13, 1929, Mrs. Margaret K. Miller released, Mrs.
Charlotte C. Stahr appointed President; South African Mission
reorganized, February, 1929, Mrs. Clara A. Martin released, Mrs.
Geneve Dalton appointed President.
The Best You Can Do
By Alfred Osmond
The best you can may never win a prize,
Nor please the critics, scholarly and cold ;
But, judged by standards of the great and wise.
It has a value that should be extolled.
The best you can is all that God is asking ;
It has a rank and station with the best,
Although its crudeness is a means of masking
The fact that you have stood a moral test.
The best you can will not accept decisions
That magnify the majesty of might.
The best you can will see the clearer visions
Of peace exalted to her throne of right.
The best you can will never be defeated.
The mangled head and bruised and bleeding feet
Are tragedies the best you can has greeted
As foes that it was not afraid to meet.
The best you can will drive away your sorrow
And lead you to the land of happiness.
The best you can will see a bright tomorrow
Behind the clouds of darkness and distress.
The best you can is always frank and fearless
When it has found some worthy work to do.
When you are sick and sad and faint and cheerless,
The best yon can will see you safely through.
Evolution of the Ugly Duckling
By Estelle Webb Thomas
Part III
January 15 — A letter from Mother at home. Mrs. Douglas
died suddenly last Sunday, and her son has taken her back to the
old home for burial. Dear little lady, she seemed to love life so ! I
wonder why he didn't let me know ? Now the other Margaret will
marry him to comfort him while he is there, and he'll never come
west again.
It was for the sake of his mother's health they first came and
now he is free to step into his father's practice, marry Margaret,
and live happy ever after. Oh, well, why should an Ugly Duckling
always be envying the Swans that swim briefly across her vision ?
An Ugly Duckling who will never be a swan herself — never !
January 22 — I've taken to writing on Friday evenings, as there
is nothing to scribble about during the week, and I am still trying to
appeal to the finicky appetite of those ogres — the Editors.
Mr. Dixon came in at recess and told me about the Teacher's
Institute. It seems he thinks we should both go ; and then I had
a letter from Marie Webster, my friend who teaches at Centerville,
begging me to go, so I suppose I must. I surely hate the expense,
as I'm saving pennies for a good typewriter and some new summer
clothes. Well, the Institute will be a change, at least.
Haven't heard any more about the Douglases. Mother writes
but doesn't mention if the doctor has returned — and of course he
won't.
February 8 — Institute was not at all bad ! I was glad that I
got me a nice party dress, for the Faculty of the State University
entertained the visiting teachers at afternoon tea and a ball in the
evening. In the afternoon I wore my pretty new suit with a beau-
tiful little bouquet of violets with which Mr. Dixon unexpectedly
presented me. The University Profs, and wives were lined up by
the door into which we were ushered ; and as we went in we intro-
duced ourselves by name and school to the mighty ones, and were
benignly hand-shaken before we moved on.
I was just behind Mr. Dixon, as that was the way we were
arranged in the* line, and Marie was just behind me. Behind her
was an extremely fat woman with a very flowery hat, who seemed
so obsessed with her own importance that she could not wait her
turn to shake hands and announce herself in her rich bass.
We had got to the third faculty member, not counting wives,
when a dried-up little dignitary deafly requested Mr, Dixon's name
EVOLUTION OF THE UGLY DUCKLING 333
repeated, and then asked in an interested way if he were the F. L.
Dixon who had been contributing articles on Rural School Prob-
lems to the State Educational Magazine. While Mr. Dixon, to my
amazement, was modestly admitting this and receiving the old gen-
tleman's effusive approbation, Marie hissed in my ear,
"Will you walk a little faster,"
Said the whiting to the snail, -
"There's a porpoise close behind me
And she's treading on my tail !"
This familiar quotation was so apt, with the stout, porpoise-
like creature impatiently shoving Marie, that I giggled right out in
meeting. I could have bitten off my tongue the next instant, I was
so afraid Mr. Dixon would think I was laughing at the old gentle-
man's fuss over him. I could not see his face but his ears, I
noticed, were very red.
I didn't see anything more of him until the dance, to which I
went with Marie and Jack Tuttle, the fellow she is going to marry.
1 intended to apologize to Mr. Dixon for the ill-timed giggle ; but
he came, as soon as I arrived, and gravely repeated the rest of the
quotation from "Alice'' as a request to dance :
"See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance !
They are waiting on the shingle ; will you come and join the dance?
Will you, won't you? will you, won't you? will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you? will you, won't you? won't you join the
dance ?"
I made two or three discoveries about Mr. Dixon this past
week. For one thing, he is quite distinguished-looking in his quiet
way. Not tall and dark, like — some people, but of medium height
and slender, and looks excellent in evening clothes. Then his hair
isn't gray from age, as I once supposed, but must have turned pre-
maturely gray from sickness or trouble and lends an air of distinc-
tion to his still youthful face. I am sure he isn't more than thirty-
five, though I might have guessed him fifty a month ago.
The fact is, I never really looked at the man till I saw so much
attention paid him at the Institute. Can it be that he is burying
himself in country schools for the purpose of studying conditions
there? And what on earth does he say about Primary teachers,
who don't amount to much at their best, and often aren't at their
best? My blood runs cold! I am going to concentrate, on making
a good impression or that man, or rather on correcting the bad
one I must certainly have made ! How glad the school children
will be !
February 15 — I've been so busy imparting knowledge, writing
reams of unsalable stuff, and making a good impression on Mr.
334 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Dixon (in a strictly professional way, of course) that I have neg-
lected my diary — haven't recorded any heart-throbs for nearly a
month ; but if there had been anything of importance happen, I
should have recorded that fast enough !
This means, of course, that I have never heard a word of a
certain dark-eyed young doctor since he cast me and my belongings
on the morning train for Pine Valley, six weeks ago ! Mother, in
the most provoking way, writes long letters, concerned chiefly with
the dear Professor's doings and sayings, and never mentions our
next-door neighbor's whereabouts. I hate to ask outright — the
Professor is always scenting a romance !
I suppose Margaret has married him by this time. (Not the
Professor, of course !) Just like her! to nab him the first time he
showed his head in her neighborhood again ! All right for you,
Margaret ! I only hope he turns out to be a regular bear, and
makes you regret your piggishness a thousand times over !
There ! I feel better, now ; what a comfort a diary is !
March 15 — I was surprised on the Friday afternoon after my
last entry, to have Mr. Dixon come into my room as I was straight-
ening my desk for the night and ask rather diffidently if I would
like a tramp over the hills with him. He had noticed that I looked
rather pale lately, and fancied I sat too much over my writing.
"Now, who told you that I am trying to write?" I asked in-
dignantly, for I thought I had kept that little matter a secret, but
he answered with a smile that he had seen several of my little
things in the magazines, and liked them immensely. Then he went
on to tell me that he was gathering material for some articles on the
flora and fauna of this region — hence the walks.
Well, I went and came home for Mrs. Lowell's early supper
really refreshed, going at my evening's work with more interest
than for many a day. Since then the tramps have become almost an
institution. Mr. Dixon is an interesting talker and I've learned a
lot of things about natural history that I would never have known
otherwise.
I asked him if he is a naturalist in disguise, and he owned
that he is getting material for a book, and chose a country school
that he might have the opportunity to study his subject at first hand.
I am dying of curiosity to know something of his personal history,
but he never talks personalities, and of course I can't ask.
April 3 — School will be out in three weeks, O, joy! And yet
I'll surely miss the interesting times Pve had with Mr. Dixon and
all the dear little pests I've struggled with this past winter; even
Mrs. Lowell's "Neow, Honey, make out a meal, don't be so
dainty!" that has vexed me so many times. I had a love letter
today from Johnny Hackett, the school tough — he pressed it into
my hand as the line marched out,
EVOLUTION OF THE UGLY DUCKLING 335
"Dere Techer
"I luv yu ef I doan ack like it. It maks me cri to thinck school
will clos so sune. I am shur sorry I hav bin so onerly. am goin
to do beter. I will alius luv yu.
'Yur dere pupal,
"J- H."
There, dare to say I am not attractive enough to inspire the divine
passion !
April 10 — A whole budget of home letters tonight. One from
Mother and the Professor full of news about home affairs, the
repainting of the house, Mother's room done over, the garden they
are planting, and the flock of new Rhode Island Reds. One from
Inez full of clothes and views and lovely times and, incidentally,
Henley. But the most exciting of all from Lisbeth, who writes to
announce her engagement to her music teacher, who isn't a long-
haired Italian or a German with a bay window, as she says she;
knew I would at once imagine, but a real one-hundred-percent
American, with a first-class family and world's of ambition.
It was a real treat to get news of them all at once ; but since
supper while I have been sitting up here alone in my room reading
the letters all over again I must confess I've felt more forlorn and
Ugly Ducklingish than ever.
Everyone seems so full of happy plans and none of them seem
to include me — at any rate my dropping out would not change them
one whit.
How nice it would be to be first with somebody ! Ugly Duck-
lings don't change into Swans, I've found that out ! They just
keep on being Ugly Ducklings to the end of the chapter, and nobody
cares ! I fancy I see people going off and forgetting all about Inez
or Lisbeth ! But perhaps I had best be satisfied with what comes
my way, not always be trying to stretch my ugly wings and follow
the larks !
April 17 — Big preparations for closing exercises in the school.
Inez writes she is sending me a dress — the very latest — to dazzle
the natives with (her own words) before I turn my back on them
forever.
She evidently takes it for granted that my little attempt at
teaching is over. I'm not so sure — 'I shall teach till my literary
wings are strong enough for a flight into that enchanted region and
then if I'm successful — who knows, I may be "the clever, dis-
tinguished Miss Wallace" long after Inez and Lisbeth are humdrum
married ladies with prosy, unromantic husbands !
Signed,
Old Sour Grapes.
336 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Part IV
April 24 — So much to write I don't know where to start ; but
I'm far too wide awake and excited to go to bed, and I want to
record all the wonderful happenings before the new wears off.
Our Closing Exercises went off with a bang ! Parents invited,
children delighted, teachers excited — that is the Primary teacher,
who was in a fever from dawn till now.
And with cause ! After the morning session was over, reports
signed and distributed, books put away for the summer, and
all the hundred odds and ends attended to, there was still an after-
noon of preparation for the evening entertainment.
Mr. Dixon had pleaded ignorance and total inability to help
with this, but promised to do all my despised report making if I
would prepare the big "Do" alone. I was to use all the available
talent in his room as well as my own. Now, I love that sort of
thing, but it was an extremely weary, flushed, disheveled girl that
concluded the final rehearsal at four p. m. and sent the children
home for their suppers and to make their toilets for the evening.
Mr. Dixon came out of the little office as the children filed
out, with all the neatly finished yearly reports in his hands. He
looked startled at sight of me and said with more impulsiveness
than I have ever heard him speak, "How tired you look !" I was
really so tired that his sympathetic tone almost brought tears to my
eyes. And when he asked if a little walk wouldn't refresh me be-
fore the evening's ordeal, I said yes out of gratitude, though I
wanted nothing but to go home and have a hot bath and a long
quiet hour in my room. But he seemed to read my thought for
when we reached the willow grove that fringes the tiny stream that
runs past the school house, he asked if I would like to rest there
while he told me a story.
If he noticed the amazement in my face at this request, he
made no sign but found me a seat on an old log and then sat on
the ground below me so that I couldn't see his face. Then without
looking at me he told me the "story."
It was the usual story of an ambitious country boy seeking
life and adventure and finding disillusionment.
He had been so full of wonderful dreams and when he met
"her" (the inevitable her), she had seemed the most golden dream
of all. It had been unbelievably wonderful to find she loved him
(or thought she did), and her love actually seemed to stand the
test of poverty with a struggling student for a whole year. Then
she had left and he had disappeared too, to give her grounds for
the divorce she wanted. (Although he did not say, I thought per-
haps he could have found the grounds, but would not).
This had all been over, years ago, and he had long ago ceased
to love or even to hate her. But the humiliation of it all was so
EVOLUTION OF THE UGLY DUCKLING 337
great, he had never gone back to the old ways again, but was trying
to build a new life away from the devastating reminders of the old.
He told me all this in the manner of one reciting a lesson, and
gave me no chance to comment if I had wanted to. Then after a
pause, while I wondered frantically how I could express the sym-
pathy I felt, he went on talking in a changed tone, and I suddenly
realized that the man was actually telling me he loved me — and
asking if I had the courage to marry him.
He had been so kind — he seemed so steady and sincere — and
I knew instinctively that his story was true, and that it was some-
thing very deep and fine he must feel for me to make him tell it —
that I almost whispered "yes", in the ear so near my knee, but
there was that haunting vision of dark eyes — eyes that spoke
though lips were silent, and I couldn't !
I couldn't say a word, but just sat miserably wishing, oh, so
hard ! that I could give him the happiness he had never found.t
He seemed to read my answer in my silence, and after a long,
long look at my down-cast face said quietly, although he was very
pale, "Don't you care ! It's all right, I — I didn't expect it." And
we came silently home.
He was his old considerate self at the party, and never be-
trayed by his manner that I had hurt him at all. But every time
I caught the look in his eyes I felt as if I had killed something,
and longed to comfort him. But in spite of this compunction my
heart was singing for joy, and I went through the familiar routine
in a sort of trance, for a miracle had just happened to me!
The tri-weekly mail came in just as we were leaving home on
our way to the exercises, and tucking my letters into my bag,
I took them with me to be read hastily in intervals of leisure — if
any. One thin one of an unfamiliar character stirred my curiosity,
however, and I opened it at once. I nearly fainted when I pulled
cut a chec£ for one hundred-fifty dollars from one of the popular
magazines !
A story had been accepted ! Actually ! No stereotyped re-
jection slip here, but a warm personal note, commending my story
and asking for more of the same sort — and the check ! ! '
I told Mr. Dixon about it behind the curtains, while our com-
bined departments shouted, "Hail To The Spring," out in front.
"And to think I'm not an Ugly Duckling any more !" I ex-
ulted, crazily, just being obliged to slop over to some one, "And
have swum right out into the Swan class !"
He repeated slowly, "Ugly Duckling! You an Ugly Duckl-
ing! Why, to me — " but I'm not going to write what he said —
I've gushed disgustingly, as it is — my face burns to read it over.
And then, after it was all over and the parents had congratu-
lated us, and the children had all come up to say, "Good-by"
(strange how it hurt to part with the dear little nuisances !) and Mr.
338 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Dixon, too, had said, "Good-by" (for* he was leaving early in the
morning) with a look in his eyes I shan't soon forget, came the
most wonderful part of all !
It had been such a day! Such a long, full, exciting day that
I simply couldn't go to bed, and was standing at the gate in the
moonlight, in the soft, sweet, spring air, and the poignant fragrance
of the flowering apple orchards — just reveling in beauty almost too
painfully sweet to bear, and dreaming dreams as vague and tenuous
as the misty moonlight — when one of my dreams resolved itself
into something more substantial than moonlight and moved toward
me down the dusty road, creating a halo of soft dust about itself
as it walked.
I had heard, without heeding it, the eerie shriek of the 10:30
train, but had never dreamed that it bore such a cargo for me
through the magic moonlight. I could hardly credit my senses when
the shadow stopped at the gate, and I found myself staring speech-
lessly up into the dark eyes of Donovan Douglas. I thought for a
moment that over-weariness and excitement had turned my brain
and I was "seem' things at night."
But figments of the fancy don't wrench open gates and sieze
both one's hands in large warm ones with a grip that suggests they
will never let go, and say tenderly, "Were you waiting for me,
little Daisy? And how did you know that I couldn't wait another
minute, but came to bring you home as soon as I knew you were
free to come?"
Some way, quite naturally, I was in his arms, and he was tell-
ing me all about the other Margaret, in answer to my whispered
question.
He had gone home after his mother's death, and when every-
thing was settled had lingered there, trying to settle down in his
father's business, trying to get back the old feeling for Margaret.
But she had finally seen "what I had known, ever since I first
saw you making smoky cocoa over your mother's library fire, that
she and I weren't meant for each other," and had offered him his
freedom. He had intended to go through with it, but when the
break was broached by Margaret had joyfully accepted her decision,
and flown as fast as trains would carry him west again to the
Margaret he really loved.
Dreams do come true ! And who is an Ugly Duckling, now ?
Two proposals in one day ! And an acceptance ! For the
fact that I have at last "broken into" one of the big magazines
looms just as large as the other incredible facts !
And then, all of a sudden, I knew I couldn't!
Not yet ! oh, not yet ! Just as the Ugly Duckling has found
her wings at last ! Just found my wings and discovered my kin-
EVOLUTION OF THE UGLY DUCKLING 339
ship to the Swans, and longing to sail with them into those en-
chanted realms of which I've dreamed so long!
What are handsome brown eyes, or hurt gray ones either, to
the freedom nad joy of stretching new-found wings! Let some
one else bind up the broken hearts — the Ugly Duckling has become
a Swan and is going to fly!
April 25 — How high and mighty that last entry sounds ! But
Donovan refused it for an answer, and when I wrote it last night
I knew it was my Swan song — though he graciously conceded that
I may use my wings all I desire, and sail away as far into the realms
of fancy as I choose, if I'll always come back to him when my
flights are over.
So the Ugly Duckling is no more ; and once more I seal up the
little volume with the story of her ups-and-downs, and face the
new life with a happy heart.
(The End)
r
Love's Recompense
By Mrs. Grace Jacobson
It was in the early June time
When I first met you, dear ;
And the happy birds were singing
In the tree tops far and near.
Our hearts were young and tender,
Tuned to love's enduring lay,
As we dreamed of life and beauty
In that trusting lovers' way.
Long years have passed since then, dear,
Yet our love has not grown cold ;
Its golden tie is just as strong
And true, as we grow old.
In the years that come and go, dear,
Love once more will sing anew,
In our love's approaching sunset,
Deeper far than that we knew.
Evening
By Merling Clyde
'Tis evening in the valley now,
The sun, a ball of fire,
Hangs just above the blue-robed hills,
Its rays to God aspire.
I smell the sage that lines the lane,
My heart with rapture thrills,
As cooling breezes bring a tang
From snow-capped cedar hills ;
While stretching far the level earth
Is green with new-born grain ;
The low-hung clouds, fleeced through by light,
Foretell tomorrow's rain.
'Tis spring and, lo, my throbbing heart
Tunes in with Nature's game,
A promise and a hope renewed
Bright pierced by vision's flame.
The sun goes down — a blaze of gold,
Behind a bank of clouds;
Whose vivid lining, shot by fire,
Is challenge for our doubts.
The valley 's draped in amethyst,
Which hangs, a purple fold,
Deep-dropping where the hollows curve
In lover's arms that hold.
Caressing shadows softly fall,
As twilight filters down ;
Afar yet darker grows the sky —
A slow advancing frown.
EVENING 341
Yet still the purpling rays of light
Enrich the evening sky
With orange shafts to drench the clouds
In last defiant cry.
The towering peaks stand shining yet,
Softly they shed a glow ;
Kissed last, they send their lingering smile
Through dusky vales below.
Then earth, regretful, darker grows,
As paler grows the light ;
A blanket falls,, the stars shine out :
Now sleeps the quiet night.
Evening and Night
By Weston N . N or d gran
The burning sun sank in the west
And hid beneath the mountain crest.
A sharp-trilled night-bird's cry was heard-
And gentle winds the pine boughs stirred.
The darkened sky, with stars filmed o'er,
Displaying night — and nature's lore.
A snowy owl on noiseless wing —
A hov'ring bat beside the spring.
Two trusting souls, confidingly,
Made one for all eternity.
A calm ; a peace ; a happiness —
And dying embers — perf ectness !
Thoughtfulness
By Myrtle Janson
Today, as a friend and I were out for a ride, we found our-
selves going down the wrong street. As we backed to turn, we
nearly ran into an old lady. Misinterpreting our maneuvers, she
ran bright-faced to the side of the car, asking if we wanted her to
go for a ride.
It was an embarrassing situation ; we couldn't take her then,
as others were waiting for us who would fill the seats ; so we told
her we would call the next day. The disappointment in the with-
ered old face was really painful. She thought that we were just
making that promise as an excuse to be on our way.
My conscience smote me; I had passed the forlorn old lady
time and time again, and the thought had actually never entered
my head that she would enjoy a car ride.
"Poor old soul !" mused Louise, "how lonely life must be for
her without a relative in town. You didn't know her husband did
you — a sweet, intellectual man, but an invalid for years. She
worked like a slave, taking care of him until his death, and then
slaved again in order to care for the two adopted children.
One of these children is dead now, and the other has so large
a family that he seldom has time to think of the old lady. I
believe he did ask her to go to the Coast and live with his family,
but she had sense enough to cling to her own home. Now that
the bill pensioning the aged has passed the legislature, with her
little rent money and her frugal habits, she will get on nicely.
"But — " I interrupted, wishing to touch on the point that im-
pressed me most, "isn't it a travesty on human nature (my own
included) — all these cars passing her home daily and hourly and
not one of us considerate enough to realize how hungry she is for
a little ride. When our own hunger is appeased, we think that
everyone else's should be."
Next day, as Louise and I stopped with a squeak of brakes
before her adobe cottage — one of the few remaining pioneer dwell-
ings with the proverbial lilac bush before the door — there peered
through the red geraniums of the daintily curtained window a
bright wizened face whose expression was a ray of joy. The visage
bore the most radiant gleam of happiness I had ever beheld.
As we drove down the highway and swerved to the side to let
whizzing cars by, she showed not the least sign of nervousness, as
most elderly people do who are not used to automobile riding.
The entire afternoon was a perfect joy fo us, she was so
rapturously thrilled with the ride itself and with every object we
approached. (Who dares to say that youth is the only time for
THO UGHTLESSNESS 343
thrills?) She showed us where the old fort used to stand, where
they used to braid the Maypole and have picnics, where she herded
sheep that the family might be clothed ; for in those days they had
literally to take the wool from the sheep's backs to make clothing.
Mothers had to weave the cloth as well as make the garments.
"You would die laughing," she trilled, her brown eyes spark-
ling, "if you saw the first trousers, without a pattern, I made for
my husband — baggy here and baggy there, and skimp where they
should not be skimp. But, do you know, he was just as proud of
those trousers and of me as if I had been the best tailor in New
York." The humorous pride with which she told this was ex1-
quisite.
After we had deposited the dear old soul at her gate and re-
ceived her effusive thanks, I felt my eyes moisten and my throat
tighten so that it was best to keep mute. Louise finally gasped,
"I wouldn't have missed this afternoon for a thousand dollars. Isn't
it strange that we should be so thoughtless when just a little time
and a little consideration brings so much joy into the world."
Requirement
By Alberta H. Christ ensen
Love does not ask for eyes
With lashes long;
It does not ask for moonlight,
Or the song
Of nightingale, or soft, sweet loveliness
Of scented trees.
You err, Romance — Love does not ask for these.
Love does not ask for hands
Soft, fragile, fair;
Rough ones that daily toil
Can smooth the hair
With tender touch ;
Release the aching head from
Fevered bands.
You err, Romance — Love does not ask for hands.
But Love does ask
That when the shadows stretch
Their sombre length
Across a sunless path,
Another one shall lend
His spirit's strength
To hasten dawn
And help the twilight pass.
Beloved
By Nona H. Brown
I thank my Maker for you, sweetheart mine.
Your love has made a Paradise, earth's way.
I thank Him that you found me here, and claimed
Me for your own, one blessed April day.
You've stood by me through joys and fear alike,
Bringing the sunshine to my darkest days ;
You've changed despair into rich happiness !
Your love has lessened keenest pain always.
You walked with me and tightly held my hand,
Into the torturing shadow-land of birth,
And smiled first at the wee one we brought back-
The wond'rous gift God sent us here on earth !
Oh, may God grant us years to realize
The happiness on earth together here.
May life's experience but teach us two
To hold each other ever yet more dear.
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Monument to Handcart Pioneers .. Frontispiece
Handcart Trail .... Ves^a Pierce Crawford 347
Impressions of My Mother, Marinda Allen
Bateman Julia B. Jensen 348
He Discovered South Pass
Dr. William J. Snow 352
Editorial— Ruth May Pox 359
President Louise Y. Robison's Birth-
day ;... 360
The Dead 361
Sunflower Elsie C. Carroll 362
A Spiritual Life Lamoni Poulter 363
The Pioneers. „ . .Willard Greene Richards 368
Autobiography of Caroline Josephine Bal-
lantyne Farr 370
Grandma's Quilts Elsie E. Barrett 378
Autobiography of Margaret Miller Watson
De Witt 379
Pioneer Days of Payson
Emma C. Curtis Simons 386
Protective Values of Pioneer Foods ....
Jean Cox 387
Mary Hood Johnstone Ruff 391
A Needle in a Haystack
Josephine G. Moench 394
The Pioneers 395
Pioneers Lois V. Hales 396
Notes From the Field 399
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Room 20 Bishop's Bldg. Salt Lake City, Utah
$1.00 a Year— Single Copy, 10c
Foreign, $1.25 a Year — 15c Single Copy
Entered as second-class matter at the
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VOL. XVI
JULY, 1929
NO. 7
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI JULY, 1929 No. 7
Handcart Trail
By Vesta Pierce Crawford
My boy, I walked across the plains, .
Where now the cars rush by;
I walked across the barrier plains.
Where now the airships fly I
You cannot know how far it is,
With hills and deserts whirling past;
My steps have measured every rod,
My body bedded on the sod!
You cannot know how far it is;
You hear the throbbing motor's sound;
Yve listened to the cart wheels creak —
The tramp and tramp of bandaged feet I
I know hoiv far it is.
Impressions of My Mother, Marinda
Allen Bateman
A Pioneer of 1853
By Julia B. Jensen
"Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman."
— Shakespeare.
King Lear's impression of Cordelia is my strongest impression
of my mother. My memory is filled with beautiful thoughts of
her ; but in any picture there must always be her gentleness of
manner and her quiet, unobtrusive way with others. Her voice,
soft and low, was yet firm and commanding. I do not recall ever
hearing her laugh aloud, though she would laugh heartily. Song
IMPRESSIONS OF MY MOTHER 349
often surged through her soul, though it seldom broke out on her
lips. When it did, it seemed more like the crooning of a1 lullaby
than an outburst of feeling.
Like Cordelia, she could be indignant at wrong and injustice,
and contend for that which she felt to be right. She was tolerant,
however, of weaknesses in others, and very humble in her estimate
of herself.
To my knowledge she never indulged in gossip, nor in
unbecoming stories. We were taught to be kind to strangers, loyal
to friends, and, as nearly as possible, to be just to those who
were not our friends. If ill-report of a friend or an acquaintance
came into our home, mother and father alike asked us to withhold
judgment until we knew more.
A Home that Sheltered
Essentially a home woman, the first of her duties was to her
children. I was the thirteenth and last child, and I marvel now
at the quiet way in which she secured cooperation and kept
the home machinery working. There were numberless things to
be done on the farm — meals to be prepared not only for the
family but for visitors ; our home always open to acquaintance
and stranger alike, no one ever turned from the door* hungry or
shelterless — and we were seldom alone.
I can recall being wakened in the night, taken out of my bed
along with one of my sisters, crowded into another bed already
seemingly full, that ours might be replenished with fresh linen
and given to some late caller who had been delayed on the journey.
Some friends lived with us for weeks and months. I recall, also,
the long dining table in the log cabin kitchen at which we sat.
It was here during the conversations at mealtime that we learned
some of our most valuable lessons in life.
Had the Gift to Believe and to Heal
Another strong impression concerning my mother was of her
unbounded faith. This she imparted to us in many ways, but
more often by example than precept. Often when we were ill
and she bent over us caring for our needs, her lips moved in
silent prayer. With the soothing touch of her healing hands,
and faith in silent words, we dropped into a restful sleep to awake
much better.
A natural-born nurse, her services were often called for in
cases of desperate illness. In homes where there were contagious
diseases — and in those days there was no quarantine — she did
all she could, taking the simple precautions she knew and return-
ing to her family without fear. I think in no case did we suffer
greatly because of the risk she encountered. Many people testified
350 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of the healing touch of her kind hands — hands that were required
to do so many kinds of hard work in the daily routine of pioneer
life, but never seemed tired of doing and giving.
Because of her ability in caring for the sick, she was urged
by friends to take a course in nursing and midwifery under
Doctors Margaret and Ellis R. Shipp. This she did when I was a
child. The service she rendered in that little community, and in
the neighboring town where professional medical service was
difficult to secure, cannot be estimated.
Hundreds of babies came safely into the world under her
direction ; hundreds of women loved her for the aid she gave.
It often meant long journeys of from ten to fifteen miles in all
kinds of old-fashioned vehicles ; it meant loss of sleep, days away
from her family for a financial remuneration so pitifully small
that I cannot bring myself to write it down. This fact affects
me deeply ; because through this labor, and only through it, she
was able to educate me to be a teacher. I trust that in some small
measure I fulfilled her expectations and returned a little of the
much she gave to me. The debt can never be paid.
Drove Oxen Across the Plains
Marinda Allen Bateman, my mother, was the eldest daughter
of Daniel R. and Eliza Martin Allen. She was born June 21,
1838, at Jamaica, Long Island, New York.
Nine years before her death she wrote, "On June 5, 1853, I
started with my parents from Council Bluffs to cross the dreary
plains, a thousand miles to Great Salt Lake Valley. I helped
father drive three yoke of cattle. On June 21, while crossing
the plains, I was fifteen years old, and on September 9, of the same
year we arrived in Great Salt Lake City. Father settled at
West Jordan and ran the flour mill for Archibald Gardner. On
November 27, 1854, I married Samuel Bateman."
Her Public Work
When the first Relief Society was organized at West Jordan
by Bishop Gardner, my mother became the president ; she did
her work with humble sincerity until she was released. At later
dates she served as counselor and again as president.
When the Jordan Stake was organized, January 21, 1900,
she became the first president of the Stake Relief Society, with
Hilda H. Larson and Agnes Cutler as counselors. She held this
office six years.
She did not crave public work ; a certain reticence of manner
made her timid. But the people who worked with her knew her
worth, and her friends were many.
Generous and of Good Courage
In her life she had few material comforts. But she never
IMPRESSIONS OF MY MOTHER 351
felt so poor that she could not give the greater half if not the
whole of her small possessions to one in greater need. Giving
was a joy ; her only regret was that she did not have more to give.
Quiet as she seemed, and timid in meeting people of the
world, she had tremendous courage. She did not know physical
fear. In the early years of her married life, she had many
opportunities to develop this courage. They lived in a lonely
place and had troubles with the Indians. For weeks at a
time, father was often away from home, but mother had no fear.
In the presence of illness or accident she had a steady nerve, and
in a crisis she was calm. She never failed us at any moment of
our lives. How secure we felt in her presence ; how her absence
could depopulate the village!
Her Last Great Battle
The last struggle was a courageous one. Long months
of illness she met with cheerfulness, but with great solicitude for
those who cared for her. It was not the way she had wished
to go ; but since she could not choose, she met death with the
same heroic spirit she had exhibited in life.
The final scene came on the evening of March 18, 1919, at
the home of my sister, Mrs. Armanta Egbert, at West Jordan.
Mother had been sitting in her chair all day. Shortly after she
retired, she knew the summons had come. She called my sister
who frantically tried to give aid. Mother calmly refused any
stimulant, saying that it was time and that she was ready. She
left her blessing for all of us, and in a few minutes, tasting death
courageously with her eyes open and conscious to the last second,
she passed on to rejoin our father, who had preceded her.
The old home is gone, but home will, ever be where mother
is. The words of Ruskin, in "Sesame and Lilies" beautifully fit
my mother and her ability to make a home: "And wherever a
true wife comes this home is always around her. The stars only
may be over her head ; the glow-worm in the night-cold grass
may be the only fire at her foot : but home is yet wherever she
is ; and for a noble woman it stretches far around her, better
than ceiled with vermilion, shedding its quiet light far, for
those who else were homeless."
God's rarest blessing is, after all, a good woman. — George
Meredith.
He Discovered South Pass
The Adventures of Jedediah Strong Smith Throw New
Light on the Opening of the Rocky Mountain West
By Dr. William J. Snow
The story of the movement from the ribbon of American
colonies on the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean is the great
American epic. The transformation of this primitive wilderness
in the course of a century is one of the amazing facts in the
world's history. Indeed, it almost seems that great cities, towns,
hamlets, and villages sprang forth, Athena-like, from the "fore-
head of Jove." Among the pathfinders and trail breakers who
paved the way for this marvelous development in the trans-
Rocky Mountain West, none stands higher than Jedediah Strong
Smith.
When the Western Empire Became Our Own
Who would have dreamed in 1776, when San Francisco
(Mission Delores) was founded by Spanish priests and the whole
trans-Mississippi West belonged to Spain, that within three
quarters of a century the embryonic republic then commencing
its struggle for independence, would own and control this whole
region? Even the settlement and political incorporation of the
trans-Allegheny West seemed then a remote possibility. A half
century later, and a quarter of a century after the purchase of
Louisiana, the Rocky Mountains were considered by many in
the United States and outside, as an effective barrier to expansion
beyond. At least it was considered impracticable if not impossible
to attach this far western region to the United States.
What Wise Man Deemed Impossible
It was hoped by some of our statesmen that an independent
republic bound to us by the ties of blood and a common political
heritage would some day be established beyond the mountains,
but farther than this they did not dare to dream. Thomas Jeffer-
son in a letter to John Jacob Aster in 1811, said, "Your beginning
of a city on the western coast (Astoria) is a great acquisition,
and I look forward to the time when our own population will
spread up and down along the whole Pacific frontage, unconnected
with us except by ties of blood and common interest, and enjoying
like us the rights of self government." Even less sanguine were
some of our congressmen ten years later. Representative Tracy
of New York in 1822, declared: "Nature has fixed limits for
our nation ; she has kindly introduced as our western barrier,
HE DISCOVERED SOUTH PASS 353
mountains almost inaccessible, whose base she has skirted with
irreclaimable deserts of sand." Such statements might be multi-
plied. Even after this barrier had been measurably overcome and
many Americans had ventured beyond, Daniel Webster declared,
November 7, 1845, at the Whig caucus in Faneuil Hall, Boston,
that he expected to see in Oregon an independent republic in the
most "healthful, fertile, and desirable portion of the globe."
The Impenetrable Western Area
The English, too, felt that nature had barred the door to
effective American settlement in the Oregon country. The reverend
J. D. Driver, in an address delivered before the Pioneer Asso-
ciation of Oregon, 1887, related the following incident connected
with the Hudson Bay factor at Fort Vancouver, the honorable
Dr. John McLoughlin :
"He (McLoughlin) used to say to Reverend J. L. Parrish,
for all coming time we and our children will have uninterrupted
possession of this country, as it can never be reached by families,
but by water around Cape Horn. Mr. Parrish went on to say,
being an Eastern man, 'Before we die we will see the Yankees
coming across the mountains with their teams and families.' The
doctor said : 'As well might they undertake to go to the moon !'
* * * When a wagon train finally camped on this side of the
Cascades, he went and conversed with emigrants, saw the
dilapidated wagons, torn covers, jaded animals, and sunburned
women and children, and when meeting Parrish on his return
said : 'God forgive me, Parrish ! But the Yankees are here, and
the first thing you know they will yoke up their oxen and drive
to the mouth of the Columbia and come out at Japan.' "
Discovery of the South Pass Was the Key
What wrought the great change ? What made the impossible
possible? Of course there are many contributing factors, among
them the perseverance, persistency, and courage of the Western
pioneer. But a most vital explanation, and one to which attention is
now called, is the discovery of the South Pass — a discovery that
changed the whole outlook for American settlement beyond the
towering Rocky Mountains. Before this easy passage was opened,
it was thought impossible, as suggested by Dr. John McLoughlin,
for wagons to cross this formidable barrier.
There are many claimants for the honor of this great explor-
ing exploit. In 1856 the promoters of the candidacy of John C.
Fremont for president, representing the new-born Republican
party, claimed for him the distinction. Of course, in the light of
well known history at that time, the claim was preposterous.
Wagons had acutally been taken over this easy pathway a decade
before Fremont's expedition of 1842. It is much more difficult to
354 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
decide, however, between various other claimants. But in the
light of recent evidence, it appears that Jedediah S. Smith should
be given the credit.
With Ashley in 1823
In the early spring of 1823, Wm. Henry Ashley, who the
previous year had led a company of trappers up the Missouri to the
mouth of the Yellowstone river, where a post was established for
the winter, advertised anew for one hundred young men to join
his forces for fur-trading operations in the Rocky Mountain
fastnesses. Among those who responded was Jedediah S. Smith,
who during the next eight years (he was killed by the Indians
in the Cimarron Desert in 1831) proved himself one of the
most remarkable mountain men of this whole romantic period.
The company left St. Louis March 10, 1823. They reached the
Aricara villages May 30; and on June 2, occurred a tragic Indian
massacre in which young" Smith played a most prominent part.
After the Leavenworth campaign against the Aricaras, which
followed this regrettable episode, Andrew Henry with the major
group of the Ashley men, went back to the new post at the mouth
of the Big Horn River ; and, contrary to all previous accounts
Jedediah Smith, it appears, did not accompany him, but led a
small brigade over the Black Hills and struck the headwaters of
the South Fork of the Cheyenne, thence westward near the head-
waters of Powder, Big Horn, and Wind Rivers to the region near
Fremont Peak (so named after) where the party remained for the
winter.
Adventures of the Trail Breaker
It was during this trip and while still in the Black Hills that
Smith had his famous tussle with a grizzly bear, being almost torn
to pieces by the ferocious animal. With the nursing and care of
his companions, and with almost superhuman courage and energy
on his own part, he was up and leading his company in the course
of two weeks. But some lonely and dangerous hours were passed at
the camp fire in this Indian wilderness. Fears of toil and danger,
of sleepless vigils, of weary marches without shelter or assurance
of food, were before them, but they would not surrender. They
had cut themselves off from .civilization to try their fortunes in
the twilight zones of the magic west lands, and with resolute
purpose they carried on. ' Little did they know, perhaps, that soon
Iheir camp fires would light the way to settlement and that
civilization they had left behind. They were to build better than
they knew ; for within another quarter of a century their pioneering
efforts would lead to the creation of prosperous American states
beyond the barrier over which they were soon to cross, and over
which, following their new pathway, a continuous string of covered
HE DISCOVERED SOUTH PASS 355
wagons, carrying immigrants to Oregon, California, Utah, would
be seen.
Opened the Way to Westward Traffic
Early in the spring of 1824 this little band, who had remained
near Fremont Pass, east of the mountains, all winter, commenced
their westward trek, still led by the intrepid Smith ; and in the
latter part of February crossed over the divide, at the point since
known as South Pass.
This simple statement of fact constitutes the crux of this whole
narrative; for over the pass, admitting, as it did, an easy wagon
route, the Oregon and California trails led a continuous stream of
immigrants into the Great Basin and on to the Pacific slope until
occupancy and possession of this whole region were vouchsafed
to the United States.
From the standpoint of historical research, this version, as-
suming it to be true, sets aside the various other claimants, such as
Andrew Henry, John Hunter Rose, and Charbormeau, as well as
Provot, Bridger, and Thomas Fitzpatrick. The last named, how-
ever, it should be noted, was with the Smith party, but not the
leader.
Recently some writers, notably the late Isaac Russell, have
given the honor to the returning Astorians in 1812. The present
writer, after a careful review of the evidence, is convinced that
they, the Astorians, missed this pass by some ten miles or more.
At any event, no practical results followed until after the 1824
discovery. Then this low depression became the gateway to the
whole trans-Rocky Mountain West. The advantage, once so
patently British, turned to the United States ; and from this period
on there was but little question as to who would eventually secure
this region.
A Leader in the Western Wilderness
From this time on until his cruel death at the hand of savages
in 1831, Smith was the leader and inspiration of every group with
which he was connected in the exploitation of the Western wilder-
ness. In the winter of 1826, some few months after Bridger, he,
too, according to his own words, "fell on the waters of the
Great Salt Lake." The next year, 1826, he led a small brigade
from the Salt Lake rendezvous near the present city of Ogden,
south and west through Utah and Southern Nevada to California
and up the coast to San Francisco, returning in the summer of
1827 across the Nevada desert to Salt Lake and thence to the
Snake. After but a short stay here, he again turned southward,
leading another party, and traveled the same route to California
and up the coast to Vancouver, where, after terrific experiences
with the Indians on the Umpqua, where sixteen of his nineteen
Green River
HE DISCOVERED SOUTH PASS 357
men were massacred, he received a generous and helpful welcome
from the veteran Hudson Bay factor, Dr. John McLoughlin.
Two years later, having left the mountains for good as he
thought, we find him leading a caravan train (prairie schooners)
from St. Louis to Santa Fe. The last seen of him he was riding
a mule down to the dry land of the Cimarron River in search of
water for the choking animals and thirsty men. According to the
version given at Santa Fe some months later by the Indians, he
reached the bed of the then dry Cimarron and began clawing out
a hole with his hands. Water soon trickled through to slake his
thirst. He drank and Continued to dig, evidently to secure suffi-
cient water for the animals, when the lurking Indians who had
been watching all the while, fell on him from behind and soon
riddled him with bullets and arrows, but not until he had whirled
about and shot two of his assailants.
Able, Courageous, Religious
Thus passed one of the most courageous and God-fearing of
mountain men. He was devoutly religious, and in addition to his
fire arms always carried the New Testament next to his heart.
Fredrick Jackson Turner compares him in this respect to his
great namesake, the Prophet Joseph Smith. In his short eight
years of adventure in the mountains he accomplished more than
any other of the noted group of mountaineers. On his two trips
to California he approximated in his route the present Arrowhead
Trail and Lincoln Highway, as well as the Western and Central
Pacific Railway. He furnished information upon which were
based the first relatively accurate maps of the trans-Rocky Moun-
tain West; viz., those of Gallatin in his "Synopsis of Indian
Tribes," and of Irving in, his "Captain Bonneville." Add to his
general exploits that of the discovery of the South Pass, the
crowning achievement of his career, and certainly his name should
stand high on the roster of Western explorers.
Historical Proof of the Claim
In the preparation of this narrative I have purposely omitted
footnotes. However, substantial evidence can be furnished for
every important statement. But here it is incumbent upon me to
credit my source for the claim that Smith led a party of eight to
the base of the Rocky Mountains in the fall of 1823, and in the
spring of 1824 discovered the South Pass. This is contrary to all
previous accounts. The basis for this part of the narrative is a
work edited by Charles L. Camp and copyrighted by the California
Historical Society, 1928, and published by A. H. Clark Company,
Cleveland, 1928. The title of the book suggests its character and
importance. "James Clyman, American frontiersman, 1792-1881.
The Adventures of a Trapper and Covered Wagon Emigrant a$
358 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
told in His own Reminiscences and Diaries." To this work the
reader is referred for many interesting incidents and details. James
Clyman was with Smith and his party when it crossed the divide
and gives intimate details of the crossing. Moreover, he was one
of the four men who circumnavigated Great Salt Lake in a boat
in the early spring of 1826 — a fact never before disclosed. Cly-
man, however, gives the date as the fall of 1825. Robert Campbell
said 1826.*
*Pacific Railroad Reports, Vol. XI, page 35.
In the Shadow of the Temple
By Minnie J. Hardy
I sat alone in the shadow,
For the flowers were very fair ;
I felt as though an angel's wing
Was sheltering me there.
I came to pass a pleasant hour —
But stayed a while in prayer.
And they came and sat beside me,
The pioneers, loved so well ;
I heard the voice of Brigham Young
Clear as a silver bell —
"As in the beginning, so today
God reigns and ail is well".
I love these mighty granite walls ;
They speak of other days,
Of faithful souls who worshiped here,
Now long since passed away.
I walk with Beauty, Truth and Love
When I come here to pray.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto-^Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN Fint Counaclor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Miss Sarah. M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs, Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Miss Alice Louise Reynolds Mrs. Marcia K. Howell*
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - - Alio Louise Reynolds
Manager - Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI JULY, 1929 No. 7
EDITORIAL
Ruth May Fox
Ruth May Fox is General President of the Young Ladies'
Mutual Improvement Association. Her selection as head of the
organization is eminently fitting, for she is an unusual woman.
Not alone sympathy for but almost the fire of youth has been
burning within her soul through the many years of her asso-
ciation with the presidency of the Y. L. M. I. A. Enthusiasm
is a necessary part of all work that contacts the human family;
in her life, President Fox has carried forward an amount of
enthusiasm that is almost amazing. The new president exhibits
a striking combination of the practical and the ideal. Blessed
with a large family of children, she has been a good, practical
mother and an efficient homemaker. To this work she has added
that transforming touch of the ideal which is apparent in the
poems she writes and in the quality of her spirituality. Full of
faith, full of belief in the trumph of right, she has a mental
attitude which finds its growth in a perfect trust in our Father
and in his plans for the righteousness and salvation of his
children.
Associated with President Fox as counselors are Lutie Grant
360 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Cannon and Clarissa A. Beesley. Mrs. Cannon is a woman of
much sweetness, of outstanding intellectual gifts, of broad sym-
pathy and very noticeable refinement. She is deservedly beloved by
the young people of the Church. Miss Beesley, in her duties as
secretary, has had the opportunity to learn much concerning the
workings of the •! organization. Every day of her life has been a
day of experience in Mutual work, a day of collecting data in
relation to it. She is known throughout the Church for her
efficiency and ability to put over work successfully and in good
season.
We can think of no wiser choice for the onward march of
the work than that made by President Fox in the selection of
her counselors. The Relief Society rejoices in their appointment;
it wishes them every success, asking in all earnestness that the
richest blessings of heaven may attend them in their labor of
progress and of love.
President Louise Y. Robison's Birthday
We take this opportunity through the columns of the Mag-
azine of extending greetings to President Louise Y. Robison on
the anniversary of her birthday, which occurred May 27.
Mrs. Robison is of English parentage, but was born in
America. Perhaps if there is one month above another to which
the English poets have paid tribute, it is the month of May ; and
if there is one month above another to which American poets have
paid tribute, it is the month of June. President Robison's birth-
day comes at so propitious a date that it is possible in thoughts of
her birthday to mingle the charm of both May and June.
On May 29, the members of the General Board observed her
anniversary by going to the Temple and doing work for a list of
her own people, submitted by her.
We extend to Sister Robison the greetings of friendship,
coupled with the wish that the richest blessings of our Heavenly
Father may attend her in her responsible position as General
President of the great Relief Society organization.
Honor Paid to Barbara Howell Richards
At her own request, and because of her removal to the state
of California, Mrs. Barbara Howell Richards has received an
honorable release from the General Board of the Relief Society.
In recognition of her efficient work on the Board, she stood
with President Williams and President Robison on the evening of
the reception tendered President Williams during the Relief So-
EDITORIAL 361
ciety conference last April. In further recognition, a luncheon was
given in Mrs. Richards' honor in the President's suite of the
Hotel Utah, April 10. The luncheon was presided over by
President Louise Y. Robison, who expressed her own appreciation
for the quality of Mrs. Richards' work, and for her womanly
worth. Each member of the Board accepted the opportunity to
pay tribute to Mrs. Richards. It was a genuine pleasure for
Board members to tell of the love and confidence that she had
inspired in their hearts.
The committee having the luncheon in charge had con-
templated some features of surprise for Mrs. Richards, but,
meeting them at their own game, she had a corsage bouquet placed
near the cover of each Board member, so that the whole affair
was a real surprise party.
Mrs. Richards is possessed of so much personal charm and
real genuineness of character that she naturally wins an abiding-
place in the hearts of those with whom she mingles.
The Dead
In olden times the main interest of life seemed to center
in the dead. Kings sought immortality through their tombs ;
consequently, much of what we know in relation to the pharoahs
of Egypt has come from the silence of the tombs. The great
pyramids of Egypt, counted for centuries by historians as one of
the world's wonders, are tombs in the desert. In the days of
Imperial Rome, many elaborate tombs were built. Paris, which
boasts many public buildings of beauty, has hardly anything else
within its limits so beautiful as the Tomb of Napoleon on the
banks of the Seine. Recently, because the remains of Field
Marshal Foch have been placed there, this Tomb has been
brought once more into great prominence.
Too much emphasis, no doubt, has been placed in the past
on the building of tombs ; yet it is part of the culture of every
civilized nation to take care of the dead in a manner that indicates
devotion and reverence for those who have been part of the great
life stream of humanity, and who have made their contribution
to the world's achievements.
It is a reproach to any community to neglect its cemetery.
Self-respecting, high-minded communities will see to it that the
cemetery reflects credit and not discredit upon the people who are
part of it. This does not mean that people shall be unduly
extravagant.
. We sense the truth of the statement that change is at all
times a part of our life, that nothing is surer than that changes
will come. It is not logical to suppose that changes are to come
362 . RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in every other mode of our life, and not affect the manner of our
care for and burial of the dead. Consequently we are having a
movement all over the United States for mausoleums that repre-
sent a better method of taking care of the dead at a price that is
not inconsistent with our general progress towards higher ideals.
In thus making of this earth a« more beautiful place both to live
in and to die in, we are in perfect accord with the idea of the poet
Wordsworth, who wrote :
"There is one great society alone on earth :
The noble living and the noble dead."
This being true, nobility should mark the manner of our death and
burial as well as of our life and living.
Sunflower
By Elsie C. Carroll
In desert places
Lone and somber, dry and sere,
Among the barren rocks
And dull gray shrubs
Where Nature's loveliness has been forgotten,
You, God's after-thought, appear.
You rise from out the dreary dullness,
A star of hope — your petals all of gold ;
You do not droop your head
Or hide your brightness
In doubt or hesitance or fear ;
But gravely face the sun,
Whose light you image.
And, seeing you,
We mortals are assured ;
Forget the drab and dullness of our deserts,
And turn our faces to the sun.
E'en though it may be hid,
Your steadfast gaze
Assures us it is there.
A Spiritual Life
Comprising Certain Experiences of Martha Jane Coray Lewis
By Lamonf Poulter, Eastern States Missionary
The following paper given at a surprise party in commemora-
tion of her 84th birthday, tells briefly the story of the life of
Martha Jane Coray Lewis.
With happiness in our hearts, we meet tonight to show our
love and respect to our dear Sister Lewis. This is her 84th
birthday. We are proud to have her in our midst and we appre-
ciate our association with her. Very few wards, we fancy, in the
stakes of Zion or in the missions in the world can say that they
have with them one who has known all the presidents of the
Church.
364 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
This we can say of her, for as a tiny babe, Sister Lewis was
held in the arms of our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith. This
glorious privilege no one would appreciate more than she ; for her
faith in that man and his divine mission has never wavered.
Her Father Aided the Prophet
Sister Lewis was born in Nauvoo, February 19, 1844, the
daughter of Howard Coray and Martha Jane Knowlton Coray,
who were worthy people and exhibited great faith during the early
persecution of the Saints. Her father, who was born in New
York, being intensely religious and well educated, became dis-
satisfied with the various existing religions ; and after hearing
a sermon on "Mormonism" by Elder Joseph Wood, who was
versed in the scriptures, he became convinced that his own church
was not true. Desiring to know the truth, he sought the Prophet,
talked with him, observed his actions. He soon realized that
Joseph was not an ordinary man. He accepted the gospel, and,
becoming well acquainted with the Prophet, took charge of his
correspondence and helped him in the writing of church history.
Origin of the Revelation on Priesthood
Sister Lewis has related the following incident pertaining to
the Prophet and witnessed by her father, Mr. Coray. At one time
the Prophet was preparing an article for conference. As the
writing progressed, he was impressed that mistakes had been
made. He stopped work and told his secretary that he would
correct it by the spirit. Pausing for a few minutes, he then
stepped out into the center of the room and under the influence
of the holy spirit, which seemed to radiate from his face, making
his fathomless eyes appear as deep as eternity and filling the
room with an atmosphere of authoritative power and spiritual
serenity, he dictated a portion of the revelation on Priesthood, a
truly heavenly communication. (Doctrine and Covenants,. Section
84.) This incident, related by her father, did much to strengthen
the faith of Sister Lewis.
Results of a Wrestling Match
Another time, her father and the Prophet engaged in a
wrestling match. The Prophet accidentally slipped, broke Brother
Coray's leg, but set it himself, later calling in a doctor, who
stated that everything was satisfactory. At the end of ten days,
Brother Coray was able to walk. He said to the Prophet, "Brother
Joseph, I am very glad you broke my leg, because you have
never broken anybody's else's leg and you know when Jacob
wrestled with the angel, he asked for a blessing ; so I should like
to receive a blessing from you." The Prophet blessed him, telling
him that he would marry, would have a large family and that his
A SPIRITUAL LIFE 365
wife would cleave to him more strongly than the cords of death;
also that he would go to the Rocky Mountains and live to be an
old man — all of which came true.
Conversion of Her Mother
Sister Lewis's mother belonged to the Campbellite church;
she was not satisfied however, until she too met the Propjiet, and
was converted to the truth. Some time afterward she married
Howard Coray. They lived in Des Moines, Iowa, later moving
to Nauvoo, where their second child, Martha Jane, was born.
It was here that her mother visited with Sistey Lucy Mack Smith,
and listened to many stories of the Prophet's youth. After his
death, she wrote them and took them to the Prophet's mother
for her approval.
In listening to these experiences, we can realize just why
Sister Lewis has been so faithful and firm in her testimony to the
truth of the gospel. Her early home life saturated her soul
with a living knowledge of the work of the Lord and the divinity
of the mission of Joseph Smith.
Made Blind by a Fall
When just a baby, Sister Lewis fell down the stairs and was
seriously injured. She lost her sight. This misfortune greatly
grieved the hearts of her parents. We see that pioneer mother
standing in the doorway of her humble cottage, watching the play
of. her little girl, who, she realized, was handicapped for life.
When the child played under the trees, with the birds fluttering
near her, her older brother, Howard, filling her lap with rose
petals, would tell her what the roses looked like. Dark her world
must have been; but even in her blindness, she found happiness
in her wonderful imagination. The mossy banks of silver streams,
"where fairy castles stood and tiny elfin folk tripped lightly o'er
the green" were all created by her from no better material than
"the gossamer threads of a maiden's fancy."
During her blindness she learned lessons in order— to keep
everything in her room in its proper place; but in her mental
house every thought and idea was stored away systematically.
The family lived in Nauvoo until 1846. At that time severe
persecution drove them from their home. They found a temporary
place in Pottawatomie County, Iowa. Driven from here, they
went to Kanesville and on to Grand Island, Nebraska; but there
they were again in the midst of hatred and persecution.
The Miracle of Sight Restored
One morning, Sister Lewis's father came in and said, "I have
an impression that if I baptize Martha Jane in a running stream
once each morning for seven mornings she will regain her sight."
366 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
This impression he followed, and miraculously the child's sight
was restored, to her own extreme delight and happiness and the
untold joy and thanksgiving of her parents. At the time of this
apparently impossible experience, she was five years old. At once
she was ushered into a strangely beautiful world. She tells us that
the clouds seemed like large, white, fluffy, moving pillows, and
that she, thought it would be great fun to take a ride on them.
The flowers, the trees, the birds, and all nature, enchanted her
life, holding her fascinated. Praising and adoring Him who had
given her the desired blessing of light, her first testimony of
God's great goodness unto her became a living reality.
The Great Adventure Westward
While in Nebraska, Presidents Taylor and Woodruff visited
them, imparting new courage and strength to commence that
great, that almost endless journey across the sands of a desert
waste. They now prepared to undertake that journey. In the
spring of 1850, with a six month's old baby they left their home
and turned their heads toward the West, which, with all its
perils, yet held for them the promise of a haven of peace and
freedom. Buffaloes and Indians they encountered ; privations and
hardships they accepted : but, with eyes toward heaven and feet
on the trail, they braved the unknown perils of the hazardous
plains. In the fall of 1850 they reached their destination, re-
garding it as the reward of their tribulation, the pay for their
hard labor and steadfast faith.
Thrills on the Lonely Prairies
Many thrills Sister Lewis experienced out on the wild and
lonely plains. She says, "Having my sight restored, everything
was glorious to me. We sat in the encircled wagons at night, with
our cattle in the center to prevent the Indians from getting them.
We had plenty of milk, bread, beans, and sometimes either fish
or buffalo meat. We danced and sang, having many good times.
The gold rush to California was on and many curious people came
by, asking dozens of annoying questions. One time a man came
up to mother with curiosity written on his face, but before he
could say anything, she started out rapidly with T'm David
Crockett's aunt. I came from the East and I'm going to the
West. I think that man over there died with the small pox.'
This seemed to suffice his curiosity, for he walked away and with-
out a word. I suppose he wondered what was the matter with
mother."
After arriving in Salt Lake City and securing a place of
shelter, they began to help in the great task of making the "desert
blossom as a rose" — the great undertaking in which many became
discouraged. For several years Mr. Coray worked in the tithi.i^
A SPIRITUAL LIFE 367
office; later he helped in the work on the temple. Sister Lewis
stood on the ground where the sod was first turned for the
foundations of that great edifice. Her life enfolds experiences
which trace the growth of the small pioneer village to the second
most beautiful city in the United States.
A Life Big with Experience
Her early life was devoted largely to Church work and, of
course, to many other useful activities. As a little girl she organ-
ized a child's Relief Society ; when asked what they could do,
she answered sincerely, "We can sing, we can pray, and we can
sew." In 1870, she was married to Theodore Lewis, a man
of great ability as an educator and spiritual leader, devoted alike
to his faith and to his loved ones. In perfect happiness and won-
derful companionship they lived for twenty-nine years. They had
ten children, five of whom are living. Sister Lewis is now with
her eldest son, Theodore, who resides in Brooklyn, New York.
During her life, she has received many remarkable blessings.
At one time, when critically ill, she was carried to the water, after
a very wonderful blessing given by President Woodruff, to be
baptized for her health. When she arose, she walked alone, un-
aided by human hand ; for God had heard the blessing, had
recognized her faith, and she was made whole. In a literary way,
she has enjoyed success, having written a great deal ; she also
worked in cooperation with her husband in this field.
In all the auxiliary organizations, she has taken active part,
and many of her later years have been devoted to temple work for
thousands of her kindred dead. Before coming East, she had
charge of the theological work of the Relief Society in the Uni-
versity Ward of Salt Lake City. One day, when a call came
for volunteer, short-term missionaries, she surprised every one
by arising and offering to come out into the mission field to
devote her time and strength to the work here.
She Carries the Torch of Truth
We are glad she is with us. She has made many friends here,
serving in the Sunday School, the Relief Society, and in other
activities in this field. We pray that our Heavenly Father will
bless her remaining years with happiness and peace, crowning a
life of righteousness. One friend said to her, "Surely your lighted
candle is set so firmly upon the hill of your life that it cannot
be hid; and all who meet you see it shining through your soul."
We feel to voice the same sentiment, and we hope to catch
the rays which come from that torch lighted by God and kept
burning by its keeper.
The Pioneers
By Willard Greene Richards
Where winter's icy blizzards lashed;
Where summer's sun blazed overhead ;
On nature's broad primeval plain
Were camps of modern Israel spread.
By tyranny's ungodly host
From civilization thrust apart,
No hand to stay, none to redress,
Nor yet to ease the aching heart.
The sick and dying prostrate lay,
Oft none to heed their call.
Mob-driven from their fields, their shops,
Their homes, their earthly all.
By hope revived ; by faith sustained ;
God-guided through their tears,
So set they forth to lead the way —
A band of Pioneers.
Faced they the West — its trackless plains,
Its mountains grand and grim —
A band of picked men brave and true,
Strong both of heart and limb.
By day they toiled; by night they slept,
But guards were placed with care.
Each morn and eve they homage paid
And worshiped God in prayer.
When mighty river barred their way,
Defiance in its roar,
They -plunged into its foaming depths
Or bridged its waters o'er.
Where road was none they builded well ;
Like giant hand that clears,
They wrought for those who followed them,
Unselfish Pioneers.
Through rock-rimmed gorge they pushed their way ;
Through mountains' tangled wood,
Where stately pines in majesty
Like silent sentries stood.
At last their eyes beheld a scene
Majestic, broad, and grand.
The "Modern Moses" looked upon
The modern promised land.
THE PIONEERS 369
He had been shown in dream divine,
In troubled days agone,
"It is enough, this is the place;
This is the place — drive on !
So spake he by the Spirit's lead, .
As did the ancient seers,
And pondered they his every word
Those faithful Pioneers.
So entered they the promised land
And broke its virgin soil,
And planting seeds, they made them grow
By dint of patient toil.
Turned they the streamlet from its course
And, guided from its brink,
The water clear o'erspread the land
And gave the earth to drink.
So founded they a commonwealth
Within the valley broad,
And chose a spot on which to build
A temple to their God.
Their memory shall not be dimmed
By time. Through all the years
We'll honor them for what they wrought,
Immortal Pioneers.
Special Announcement
The General Board of the Relief Society will offer
two prizes of $100 each, one to be given for the best
drama based upon the Book of Mormon; the other to
be given for the best opera inspired or suggested by
the Book of Mormon.
Contest open to all who wish to make entries.
Contest to close December 31, 19 29.
The rules of the contest will be published in the
August issue of the Relief Society Magazine,
Autobiography of Caroline Josephine
Ballantyne Farr
First, something of my parents and ancestors. Those on
my father's side were of Scotland ; on my mother's side, they were
all of Norway.
Sketch of Richard Ballantyne's Life
My father, Richard Ballantyne, was born in Whitridge bog,
Roxburgshire, Scotland, August 26, 1817. When an infant, he
was baptized into the Relief Presbyterian Church by sprinkling ;
later he was taught its doctrines. At the age of twenty-one he
became an elder and later a ruling elder, whose duties consisted
of visiting among the members with the priest, and looking
atter the finances of the church, in which labor he was greatly
blessed. While still a young man he began his labors as a Sunday
CAROLINE JOSEPHINE BALLANTYNE FARR 371
School teacher, which work he continued the remainder of his
life. He obtained his schooling between the ages of nine and
fourteen, when he occasionally attended school, mostly in the
winter months. At fourteen, he was apprenticed as a baker to a
Mr. Gray, serving three years. At sixteen he was made foreman
of the business, also serving one year as baker's foreman in Kelso
under a Mr. Riddle. His former master dying, he purchased
the business continuing it for five years in Earlston, but giving
it up when he came to Nauvoo.
In his native land when twenty-five years of age, he joined
the Church. On a beautiful moonlight night of December, 1842,
he was baptized in the waters of the Leith. With his mother,
two sisters and a brother, he left his native country in 1843,
coming by way of New Orleans to Nauvoo. Here he became
the manager of the Coach and Carriage Association, where many
of the wagons and vehicles were built which aided the first
immigrants across the plains to Utah. In 1846 he settled the
affairs of John Taylor's printing establishment, operated a flour
mill thirty-six miles east of Nauvoo, and also engaged in farming.
Other Events in Nauvoo
During the troublous times in Nauvoo he had many thrilling
experiences. At one time for over two weeks, he was in the hands
of. the mob, suffering greatly from exposure and hardship, while
his captors led him and his companions from one place to another
in the secluded woods. The mob decided to shoot them. The
ground was measured off and prepared for the bloody deed when
the timely arrival of a warning messenger stopped the execution,
the prisoners finally escaping.
At Winter Quarters, on February 18, 1847, he married
Hulda Meriah Clark, daughter of Gardener Clark and Delecta
Farrer. Their children are Richard, Alando, Delecta Ann Jane,
David Henry, Meriah Cedenia, John Taylor, Annie, Roseltha,
Isabel, and Joseph.
On November 27, 1855, he married Mary Pierce, daughter
of Edward Pierce and Elizabeth Bennett. Children : Zechariah.
Mary Elizabeth, Jane Susannah, James Edward, Eliza Ann and
Heber Charles.
November 7, 1856, he married my mother, Caroline Albertine
Sanderson. She had seven children: Thomas Henry, Caroline
Josephine, Bertha Matilda, Catherine Mena, Jedediah, Brigham.
Laura Elizabeth.
Early Work in Utah
On May 18, 1848, he started for the Valley, crossing the
plains in President Brigham Young's company, which arrived
in Salt Lake City the following September.
In the first Pioneer Day celebration, held in the Tabernacle
372 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Square, July 24, 1849, he took a prominent part, presenting to
President Young the Declaration of Independence and the Con-
stitution of the United States. He also acted as standard bearer
to the twenty-four young men who constituted part of the Pres-
ident's escort.
As early as 1846 he was ordained a Seventy by President
Joseph Young, and later a High Priest by Apostle John Taylor,
which latter office in the Church he held to the day of his death,
laboring with constancy and considering his duties a pleasure.
The Father of Sunday Schools
Sabbath School work was his chief delight. On arriving in
the Valley, having secured a little home in the Fourteenth Ward,
he obtained from his bishop permission to establish a Sunday
School. There being no house to meet in for months to come,
he built an addition to his home, doing almost all the work with
his own hands, and there began the school. The first session was
held on the second Sunday in December, 1849. Later the school
was held in the Fourteenth Ward meeting house. Thus, under
him, began the Sunday Schools of the Church.
He writes : "I was early called to this work by the voice
of the Spirit, and I have felt many times that I was ordained to
it before I was born; for even before I joined the Church I
was moved upon to work for the young people.
"There is growth in teaching the young; the seed sown in
their hearts is more likely to bring forth fruits than when sown
in the hearts of those more advanced in years.
"Furthermore, I have passed through much trouble, sorely
tried by friends and foes ; but through it all the Gospel has
brought such a solace that I -was very desirous that all the
children of the Saints should learn to prize it as I did. From the
very nature of our circumstances, I could see that the children
were being neglected. I wanted to gather them into the school
where they could learn, not only to read and to write, but of the
goodness of God and the truth of the Gospel."
I heard my father relate a very impressive dream. He saw
a large building in course of construction, and a number of little
boys playing in and around it. Finally he saw an officer trying to
catch them. One of them ran to my father, and with pitiful
pleading looked up into the face of my father, saying, "Oh, teach
me ! teach me ! teach me !" This dream made a strong impression
as if pointing out his special work.
Missions and Travels
In 1852 he was called on a mission to Hindustan, India. After
a long and perilous voyage he arrived at Calcutta with twelve
other elders, on July 24, 1853. While on this mission he had
remarkable faith-promoting experiences,
CAROLINE JOSEPHINE BALLANTYNE FARR 373
On the 25th of July, 1854, he sailed for England by way of
the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in London on the 6th of Decem-
ber, 1854, thence making his way in charge of a company of
Saints across the ocean to St. Louis. In the spring of 1855
he led across the plains a company of emigrants numbering about
five hundred. With fifty wagons, all of them arrived in Salt
Lake City in first class condition, on the 25th of September, 1855.
Upon his arrival in Salt Lake City, President George A. Smith
said to him : "You have accomplished a journey around the world
without purse or scrip and brought in your company with a
band of music and flags flying."
President Young immediately appointed him to a home
mission in the well remembered "Reformation." To this work he
devoted his time until May, 1857. Jedediah M. Grant, father of
our beloved President Heber J. Grant, was his companion.
At the time of Johnston's army, he was in the "move" south,
remaining in Nephi two years. He was one of the first business
men of Ogden, where, after a very active life, he died October
8, 1898.
The Mother's Ancestry
On my mother's side, my ancestors were all of Norway and
belonged to the Lutheran church. Though they were in com-
fortable circumstances, they were very industrious and my mother
was early taught to work. My grandmother would paint the house
and the barn. The weaving was done at home, my mother
assisting in the spooling and quilling. They also did all kinds
of fancy work. After preparing the yarn, they made their
own shawls, tastefully embroidering them in the natural colors
of flowers.
Receiving the Gospel
Caroline Erickson Williams, who made her home with my
grandparents about the years of 1851-53, tells how they came
to receive the Gospel : "I was sick a few days and went home ;
while there I had a dream. I thought someone came to the
Sanderson home (my mother's) and gave Mrs. Bertha Jacobson
Larson (my great-grandmother) something that made her very
happy.
"After I returned to their home, a man who lived at the toll
bridge asked us one night to come to his house and hear some
ministers. We all went. As we approached the house we heard
the elders singing. I thought it the most heavenly music I had
ever heard, and such preaching!
"They were local elders, Jappa Folkman, Olson, and Hanson.
The place was Ryvelsrod Onson, about seven miles from Fred-
rickstall, Norway. In about one month we were all baptized
374 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
excepting Mrs. Sanderson, who waited till spring. The elders
were kept in prison all winter, where they converted the night
watchman who carried food to them from the Sanderson home
at night."
Her Mother's Narrative
"My grandmother, Bertha Larson, and I were baptized on the
27th of September, 1852, and my mother not till spring. On the
30th, three days later, I was to have been confirmed in the
Lutheran Church, but instead I went to the priest and told him
I had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This
angered him. It was he who had the elders arrested and put in
prison, where they remained all winter.
"My father was a sea captain and was away a great deal.
When he heard what we had done, he set a guard to watch our
house. One night a mob of about 200 men gathered outside and
demanded entrance, to see if the 'Mormon' Elders were secreted
there. I had been to a meeting and I was compelled to stay
outside until four o'clock in the morning, when they grew tired
and left the place.
"Once when my mother was very ill, Brother Olson, one of
the missionaries, laid his hands on her head and said : "In the name
of the Lord thou shalt be healed." She was restored instantly,
after which she enjoyed good health for a number of years.
From Norway to Utah
"On November 21, 1854, we left our native land. To leave
our dear father was one of the greatest trials we ever had to bear.
During our voyage on the North Sea there came up a terrible
storm, so severe that it was impossible to go on ; we had to turn
back to land three times, making no progress past a certain place
in mid-ocean. Finally the sea captain of our company, numbering
400 souls, called us together and said to us, 'We are all fasting,
and let us unite in prayer.' He offered a very humble prayer
and immediately the wind turned. We were out of coal and had
to depend on the sails, but the Lord answered our prayers and
we steered straight to Hull, England.
. "We went by rail to Liverpool, whence we set sail for
America. After a safe voyage we landed at New Orleans,
February 18, 1855. At Fort Leavenworth the cholera raged in
our camp, four or five dying every day. Apostle Erastus Snow
rebuked the Destroyer ; after that time all were healed.
Life in Utah in 1855
"On the 14th of June, 1885, we started to cross the plains.
I had to walk almost all the way. We arrived in Salt Lake City
CAROLINE JOSEPHINE BALLANTYNE FARR 375
September 7, 1856, almost a year after we left our home in
Norway.
"Utah was then a place of destitution and poverty, the
crickets having destroyed all the crops. Mother, grandmother,
and I were alone, and I worked for our support, weaving, sewing,
for one dollar a week. Flour was fourteen dollars a hundred
and we had to ration ourselves to one biscuit a meal.
"When it looked as if we would starve, President Brigham
Young told us to cook roots, weeds, thistles, etc., promising that
they would be blessed until the grain came, after which they would
be cursed or poison. Some that had learned to like the weeds,
continued to use them and became very ill. During the Fall of
1855, mother and I gleaned, earning 2§ bushels of wheat, which
made us very comfortable for a year.
"On the 7th of November, 1856, I was married to Richard
Eallantyne. About a year afterward, Johnston's army invaded
our peaceful quarters and we had to move south. We lived at
Nephi two years. On returning we found our homes just as we
had left them. In 1865 we moved to Eden, Utah, where my
husband became president of that branch. For seven successive
years the grasshoppers destroyed our crops ; then there came
caterpillars that killed the crops. We were reduced to poverty,
and for two years were again rationed."
My mother's public work was mostly among the sick. In the
Primary Association of the 4th Ward of Ogden, she was first
counselor for many years, acting as president most of the time
on account of the illness of that officer. Later, my mother was
made president and held that position a number of years.
Autobiography of Caroline B. Farr
I, Caroline Josephine Ballantyne Farr, was born the 30th of
January, 1861, in Salt Lake City. Our home, on First West, was
next door to one of the homes of Apostle John Taylor.
When I was a babe, father moved his family to Ogden, In
1865 he moved part of his family to Eden, Ogden Valley, my
mother and her children being among those who went there. My
father gave the name of Eden to that little town.
Results of Early Training
I used to enjoy the walk from our humble little home on the
farm over to the meeting house. Under Henry Talbot as con-
ductor, choir practices were often held at my mother's home.
At one of these practices, a leading singer, Miss McBride, lifted
me up on the seat beside her to help sing alto ; since then, with
an occasional intermission, I sung in the choirs of the Church
until I was over fifty.
Sister McBride, one of my first teachers in Sunday School
376 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
and day school, used to give us passages or chapters from the
New Testament to memorize. I enjoyed these lessons. They
developed in my soul, at a very early age, a love for the Savior.
The first strong desire I remember having was that I might be
like Him.
In Eden and Ogden
In the little town of Eden, the Indians, almost daily visitors,
came with their berries, choke-cheeries, and service berries which
they gathered on the hills, also beads, and "swapped" for biscuit
(bread), butter, meat and sugar. If our parents were home, we
children used to be glad to see them come. It was here that
my sweet little blue-eyed sister, Catherine Mena, died at about
eleven months of age.
Once when my father was irrigating a field, mother sent
me to him with a lunch ; he asked me to sit down in the shade
of the willows and talk with him while he ate; before eating he
returned thanks for the food. I never forgot the incident.
The fall before I was fifteen years of age I started to school
to Prof. L. F. Moench ; the next summer the trustees wanted me
to teach school at Eden. How embrarrassed and nervous I felt,
and how incapable! I took the school and did my best.
In the fall of 1876, my father moved his family back to
Ogden, which has been my home up to the present time.
Married to Marcus Farr
February 2, 1882, in the Endowment House at Salt Lake,
I was married to Marcus Farr, son of Lorin Farr and Sarah
Giles. My uncle, President John Taylor, sent word to President
Joseph F. Smith, who was counselor to President Taylor, to marry
us first so that we might eat dinner with him at the "Guardo"
house, his residence. We thought it a great honor to eat our
wedding dinner with the President of the Church and his family.
I had always esteemed him as one of the grandest and greatest
men who ever lived. It was he who first called me by my new
name. When it was time to catch the train he sent his coach-
man and carriage to take us to the depot.
At my husband's father's East farm our first child, Josephine,
was born, February 17, 1883. In April, 1884, we moved to his
West farm (Marriott) and lived there two and one half years.
Here our son Marcus B. was born, April 11, 1885. In the fall
of 1886 we moved back to Ogden and since then we have had
three children: Lionel Ballantyne, born November 28, 1888;
Beatrice Albertine, born April 24, 1892; Lorin Ballantyne, born
July 1, 1896.
Experience wii>h the Ward of Wisdom
When about eighteen, I read an article in the Millennial Star
CAROLINE JOSEPHINE BALLANTYNE FARR 377
on the Word of Wisdom, the effect of it changing my whole life.
I resolved there and then to keep it, feeling thankful and happy
to find something I could do that was not commanded.
About two years after this resolution I was taken ill with
typhoid fever. After about three weeks, to all appearances, I
died ; my eyes and teeth were set and I was cold and stiff, but
through the faith of my mother and the elders I was healed.
In the winter of 1882, I had the misfortune to fall on the
ice and hurt myself internally. For several years I was not very
strong; and would sometimes yield to the persuasion of friends to
drink a cup of coffee or tea as an inducement to eat more. About
this time President John Taylor attended our quarterly con-
ference and spoke on the W^ord of Wisdom. I was greatly thrilled.
On our way home we talked of the things we had heard. I
told my mother and one of my sisters that I would recover my
health by keeping the Word of Wisdom or die in the attempt.
My sister could not have been so strongly impressed, for she
said she would eat or drink anything that would make her feel
better; but for the sake of my children and my own good I
determined to obey this law.
When I was about to become a mother again, I dreamed I
died. I saw my body lying on a stretcher and my husband and
children standing around my body weeping, heart-broken, while
my spirit, or I, stood in one corner of the room looking on. Seeing
their great grief, I felt that I could not stand it, and awoke.
When the time arrived for the birth of my child, I felt sure
I would never arise from my bed again in this life unless the
Father saw fit to spare me. My babe came and only through the
power of the Priesthood was I restored. The battle for life was
now on in earnest, and it seemed that all hell was let loose on me.
Only by giving heed to the "hidden treasures of knowledge" as
promised in the Word of Wisdom did I or my children escape.
In this experience I had been mobbed and driven as literally
as were the Saints by men in the flesh; my foes were from the
unseen world, and where could I flee or where hide from such
an enemy ? I fled to the house of prayer as literally as the Saints
were forced to flee to these valleys.
From criticism by my own people I suffered keenly. All this
time, or nine years out of the ten, I was asking people to pray
for me, being ward president of the Young Ladies' Mutual Im-
provement Association. How could I hold such a position if I
were not just right, or insane?
But I have had also seasons of the most exquisite joy. My
Father in heaven has been my friend, my joy, and my song. When
I felt that I could not ask people to pray for me any more and that
death would be preferable, I was told that the thing I was doing
would bring the Millennium and so I was willing to carry on.
378 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Thankful for my parents, that they embraced the truth and
have always been faithful ; grateful to my Eternal Father for the
desire He has given me to serve Him, I praise Him for the light
of truth that He has given to me, and bless His holy name that
He has delivered me in times of peril and danger. Glory, honor,
praise, and majesty be His forever and ever. Amen.
Grandma's Quilts
By Elsie E. Barrett
My Grandma's quilts bring memories,
Of years gone by when I
Would sit and listen as I watched
Her shining scissors fly.
She used some cardboard patterns true,
To help her weary eyes ;
Then neatly filled her basket round
With piles of ev'ry size.
She quickly fashioned, here and there,
This patchwork into blocks ;
And I declare they made me stare !
Those scraps from many frocks.
I see her artist fingers now,
With pencil, string, and chalk ;
She'd deftly draw some butterflies,
And birds, while we would talk.
Then on a big white patch I'd note,
Some growing, clustered grapes,
Or other fruit, or flowers sweet,
In neat designs and shapes.
And later when she quilted them,
Through fluffy cotton-wool,
It seemed as though those birds might fly ;
The grapes were plump and full.
I've seen some quilts so beautiful
Her busy fingers made
From scraps that didn't cost a cent,
Of ev'ry kind and shade.
I hope dear Grandma now enjoys,
In some eternal sphere,
Reward for all life's bruises, and
For work she did while here.
Autobiography of Margaret Miller
Watson De Witt
I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, January 16, 1841 ; the
youngest of a family of nine children. My father's name was
John Watson ; my mother's, Jane Hosea Miller Watson. Among
my earliest recollections of my father, who died when I was a
small child, is my seeing him wrapped in quilts seated in a chair,
while I played peek-a-boo with him through the glass in our
door.
When I was about fifteen years of age my sister Jane, six
years older than I, joined the ''Mormon" Church and emigrated
to America. The members of the family felt that by so doing-
she had brought great disgrace to our family.
380 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Early Life in Scotland
My mother died when I was twelve years old, and I lived with
;an elder sister, Belle, who sold the place and rented one littfe
room for the two of us. During this time my sister Jane wrote to
me in care of a friend, Agnes McKay, urging me to attend the
"Mormon" meetings and investigate their religion for myself.
This I did secretly — going to the meetings when my sister
supposed I was attending night school. I was able to attend sev-
eral meetings conducted by the "Mormon" Elders before my sister
discovered my deception, which she finally learned from the
factory girls. Thinking she was doing the proper thing, she gave
me a severe whipping and warned me not to go near the Elders
again. However, this only served to strengthen my determination
to find out for myself all about the "Mormons" and "Mormon-
ism".
I still continued my secret correspondence with my sister
Jane, who lived in Holyoke, Massachusetts ; and she sent me
money to pay my passage across the ocean. I remember going
to the bank and getting the money which I concealed in the bosom
of my dress in the day-time and in my shoe at night. Very soon
after this I left my sister Belle's home. We had eaten breakfast,
and I left as if I were on my way to the factory. I saw the
clothes spread on the green to bleach (she had washed the day
before) and I picked up my night-cap and slipped it into my
pocket. This was all I took with me except the clothes I stood
up in.
The Flight to America
I went directly to my friends, the McKays, who informed
me that the next sail-boat would not leave for two weeks. I
couldn't go back home to Belle, so my kind "Mormon" friends,
the McKays, hid me up for two weeks in the home of a widow who
boarded me: the McKays paid her for her trouble. During this
time the McKays outfitted me with clothes for my journey.
Bills had been posted and rewards offered for my capture, so,
fearing detection, I disguised myself when I went to the sail-boat.
Just before boarding the ship I posted a letter to my sister Belle
telling her not to continue her search for me as I was on my way
to America. I crossed the gang-plank and entered the ship. Then
I went below into the steerage until the ship had started.
I then went up on deck and took a last fond farewell of my
native land. I was overcome with conflicting emotions as I saw it
disappearing from my sight. For, though I was glad and eager
to come to America, where I could learn more about "Mormonism"
and join my sister Jane, yet I felt sad to leave forever my
native land, my brothers and sisters and friends. I extended my
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARGARET M. W. DeWITT 381
arms and cried, "Good-bye forever, old home" ; and the ship, the
Isaac Wright, bore me off.
A Hard Sea Voyage
Soon after leaving I became violently seasick and lay on the
bare deck for relief. Having taken nothing with me except my
clothing, I had nothing to lie on. A young woman came near me,
saying, "How's this? Haven't you any folks to look after you?
But no, I mustn't talk ; I must do something."
She went to the cook-room and made a little tea and toast. As
I partook of it, my stomach became settled, so that I could get up
and around. Soon I became more adjusted to life on board ship.
From Liverpool to New York, we were on the sailing vessel six
weeks and three days.
When we landed at New York the McKay girl's folks met us
there. A large crowd was present as we were getting off the ship.
I kept saying aloud, "O have you seen my sister?" I hadn't
heard the popular song then being sung, entitled, "O Have You
Seen My Sister?" At once some one in that great throng caught
up the words and sang it while the whole merry crowd began sing-
ing and laughing.
At Work in a Factory
I took the train from New York to Springfield, Massachusetts,
where my sister met me. Words cannot express the joy of our
meeting. I went with her to her home in Holyoke. There I re-
mained with her and a group of emigrant girls. We worked in a
factory, earning the money to pay our way to Utah. Having had
experience in working in the factories in Glasgow, where there
were five hundred steam looms on one floor, I felt at home in the
work. They started me out with two looms ; when my sister saw
that I could handle them easily and still have plenty of spare time,
she said to the manager, "My sister is an ambitious little girl and
I'm sure she can handle more looms when you can give them to
her."
They gave me four for awhile, but soon increased it to six,
the most ever given to any experienced girls in the factory.
I made it a point always to be prompt ; and the watchman
would laugh as he held his lantern so that he could see my face
as I sat at the big doors each morning waiting for him to opein
them and let me in. The minute the engine started I was at my
loom. Some of the girls were always ten minutes or more late ;
when they remarked at my higher wages on pay-day, it was
pointed out to them that ten minutes each day zvill soon amount to
dollars and cents.
Saving for Three Years
We received our pay in an office adjoining the factory. Here
382 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
two men counted out the money, which was held in a big, seamless
sack. The books were opened and the numbers of the looms were
given. Then the girls were paid in cash. As I received my wages,
I often heard the men whisper to one another, "Is that the one?"
I was small for my age and my skill as a factory hand was talked
about among the workers.
We worked in this factory for about three years. Our board-
ing house was managed by two old maid sisters who had rented a
large house especially for factory girls. We paid them each
month ; and outside of our board, lodging, and clothes, we saved
every cent for our journey across the plains.
My sister left for Utah three weeks before I did, as there was
not room for both of us in the first company. I handed to the
president of the branch sixty dollars in cash to pay my way to Utah.
Baptism at Night : Crossing the Plains
Before leaving for Zion, however, I had been baptized and
confirmed a member of the Church. My sister and I had attended
regularly the L. D. S. services in Holyoke. Each meeting strength-
ened my faith, though I had believed the Gospel to be true from the
first time I heard the Elders preach it in Glasgow. On account of
the bitter opposition manifest by the anti-"Mormons" there, my
baptism was performed at night. When I was taken to the river
the ice was broken, and there I was baptized.
I traveled across the plains with Thomas Lyons, his invalid
wife, and five children. They had two hired teamsters, each driv-
ing a large wagon-load of goods. I took care of their five children
and cooked every bite that was eaten by our outfit of ten, from
the time we left Florence, Nebraska, until we reached Salt Lake
City. / walked all the way across the plains, carrying the baby
much of the time. Sister Lyons had to be lifted in and out of the
wagon, and had a special chair to sit on.
Incidents of the lourney
As soon as the men would pitch tents each night, I would pre-
pare supper over an open camp fire, then get the children to bed.
Often I did not get much sleep, the mosquitoes being very trouble-
some, and causing the children to cry and fuss a great deal. I had
never cooked over a camp fire ; when I needed information I coun-
seled with some of the older sisters, who were very kind and
willing to help me. I learned to bake light bread in a bake-oven.
From each baking, we saved a piece of dough for our next
batch of bread.
There was one death in our company — an invalid man who
could not stand the trip. His body was wrapped in canvas and
buried in a grave, by which a service was held. All along our
way we saw graves which the coyotes had dug into.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARGARET M. W. DelVITT 383
I remember a marriage on the plains. After the ceremony we
danced most of the night to the music of a fiddle.
When about half way across the plains, I had to leave my new
trunk because we were too heavily loaded. My clothes I put into
sacks.
We were three months crossing the plains, under the captaincy
of Edward Stevenson. My sister heard of the company through
the "Pony Express" and was .ready to meet me. She had ar-
ranged for a place to work — for a Sister Elizabeth Howard, who
lived eight miles south of Salt Lake City at Big Cottonwood. My
sister had a place in Salt Lake City and we often visited.
An Important Meeting
With the first money I earned in Salt Lake City I purchased
a new chest for my clothes. This was made by a Brother Thomas
Ellerbeck, an excellent carpenter. I still have this chest and it is
as good as new.
The date of our arrival was September 16, 1895, with 350
souls and 150 wagons. That evening in the Howard home as I
stood by the sink washing dishes, I noticed a young man come into
the room — a tall, straight, handsome fellow. I nudged Sister
Howard's daughter, who was wiping dishes, and asked, "Who is
that?"
"Don't worry. You may have him," she answered:
I replied, "I don't want to fall in love." About six months
later, when I was nineteen years old, this same young man became
my husband. I had no parents to go to for advice ; so when he
proposed marriage, I went to Bishop Brinton and asked him to
advise me. His answer was, "You'll make no mistake, Margaret,
if you marry Alec DeWitt."
The Bride's Apparel
Sister Howard had been like a mother to me ; at the time of
my marriage she dressed me completely in the very best of clothes.
My wedding dress was a beautiful white, tucked all around the full
skirt and trimmed with lace and white ribbon. Sister Howard en-
gaged Eliza R. Snow and Sister Woodmansee to come to her home
a week and sew on my wedding dress, sheets, pillow cases, quilts,
and everything preparatory for my marriage. I felt like a princess
to be so honored.
The bishop, who was to marry us, was working on the jury
that day ; but he walked eight miles to our ward that afternoon in
order to perform the ceremony that night.
The Nezv Home
I had been afflicted with a sick headache during the afternoon
and Sister Howard had sent me to bed. While I was there she and
384 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
her daughters had fixed up our little two-roomed cottage, which
Brother DeWitt had rented for our future home. I was dressed
in my wedding finery as we walked to the bishop's home where
we were married. Then we went to our little home. I noticed
that it was all lighted up ; and when we entered, we beheld a table
laden with a feast — roasted chicken and everything that goes
with it. My bed was all made up with new sheets and pillow
cases and the beautiful quilt that Eliza R. Snow and Sister
Woodmansee had made. We then spent a happy evening with the
Howard family and the bishop's family. Mrs. Howard was an
excellent cook and the banquet she and her girls had prepared was
delicious.
Brother DeWitt had brought a load of furniture from Salt
Lake City; it had been unpacked and put in place. The new
dishes were in a cupboard he had made. All this was a surprise
to me.
Abel Alexander DeWitt
Prior to our marriage, my husband had been investigating
"Mormonism" and was really converted to it, but postponed being
baptized because he didn't want it said of him that he joined the
Church to get the girl he wanted. He was baptized about two
weeks later.
My husband, Abel Alexander DeWitt, was born October 6;
1826, in Perry County, Indiana. He had traveled extensively —
had seen South America — and was on his way to California to
seek his fortune. Although he had really feared stopping off at
Salt Lake City because of the numerous warnings he had heard
that if he did the "Mormons" would kill him, he finally stopped
over and found a job at Howard's. There he investigated "Mor-
monism" and embraced it. He died at Woodruff, Arizona, on
September 16, 1913.
The' Children of the Household
While living at Cottonwood we were blessed with six children :
Lucy Jane was born March 28, 1861 and died at Salt Lake City
July 16, 1923. Sarah Huldah was born March 26, 1863 and died
November 18, 1904 at Lehi. Alexander was born October 1, 1865,
and is still living. Elijah Reeves DeWitt, born February 18, 1867,
still lives. Elizabeth Catherine, born June 5, 1870, died April 29,
1904, at Thatcher, Arizona. Margaret Lenora was born July 20,
1872, and died August 13, 1873, at Big Cottonwood.
We moved to Kanab, Utah, where our next three children
were born : Martha Ann, born October 8, 1874, died December 29,
1879, at Kanab. John Daniel, born November 5, 1876, is still
living. William Washington DeWitt was born January 10, 1879
and died December 1, 1907, at Woodruff, Arizona.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARGARET M. W. DeWITT 385.
Called to Arizona
We were called by Church authorities to cross the Colorado
and help settle Arizona, so we moved to Springerville, where our
last three children were born: Rhoda Ellen, born March 27, 1881,
died October 24, 1888. Jesse Dillis DeWitt was born April 23,
1883 and is still living. Mary Eliza was born July 24, 188S and
died July 24, 1885.
When Jesse was about eight years old, we left Springerville
and came to Woodruff, where I am still residing.
When my last child was born, I was at death's door, but
through the faith of the elders I was spared. Word went out':'
Sister DeWitt is dying. The elders left a 24th of July celebration
they were attending ; they came and prayed for me, and I rallied.
Akvays a Relief Society Worker
I was set apart as a Relief Society teacher after my first
child was born. I have served as an active teacher in that organ-
ization ever since — a period of sixty-seven years. I am still an
active teacher in the Woodruff ward. I used to go teaching m
Big Cottonwood, carrying my baby on my arm. The bishop's
wife, Sister Brinton, used to say, "Be sure to stop -last at my
house." She would always have a delicious supper prepared,
saying to us, "The servant is worthy of his hire."
Though I am now eighty-eight years of age, I still enjoy
working in the capacity of a Relief Society teacher — a calling that
I consider one of the greatest.
Editor, Relief Society Magazine :
I am sending a life sketch of Woodruff's oldest resident,
"Grandma" DeWitt, written as she dictated it to me.
Her record as an active Relief Society teacher is perhaps
unsurpassed.
A loving, laughing, witty little Scotch lady, very active for
her advanced age, she is usually present at the dances and social
activities. A year ago- I danced the Old Year out and the New
Y^ear in with her! Her constant attendance at Relief Society
meetings, and her keen interest and active participation in the les-
sons, proclaim her fertile brain and sympathetic heart. Always
eager to improve, she learned to play the organ after she was
sixty-five years of age, to be able to accompany herself as she
sang the songs of Zion ; and though rheumatism has incapacitated
her hands for playing, she often sings. Her greatest joy is reading.
When she is at home, she is generally in her "reading nook" near
her shelves of books by a light, cheery window. We love her for
her gracious manner, her enthusiasm and optimism, her sincerity
and courage — one of earth's chosen spirits. To this little com-
munity, her life is an inspiration. — Eunice I. Gardner.
Pioneer Days of Payson
By Emma S. Curtis Simons
"Brother Brigham is coming! Brother Brigham is coming!"
The happy message was repeated in every home in the village ; and
added to that was the request from our beloved bishop, John B.
Fairbanks, that our town be put in order and everything be made
clean.
We had three days' time, the work falling mostly to women
and small children, as the farms claimed the time of the men and
larger boys. Our wood yards were a sight to behold ! At least
a wagon boxful of chips was raked up and then the yard was
swept. Farm implements were put out of sight. Corn cribs
were put in order that the play school might open as soon as all
was quiet again. The houses were as clean as homemade soap
and improvised brushes could make them ; our windows were as
clear as the atmosphere.
At last the day arrived. Brother Brigham had said that
when he gave his time to visit the people he wanted to see every
man, woman and child in each community. A boy on horseback
was stationed on the hill to the northeast, with a white towel tied
to a stick, which wa*s to be waved as a signal of the approach of our
guests. An hour's waiting, and the flag was waved. We were
there, on each side of the street, the line extending as far as our
numbers would permit — mothers with babies in their arms (who
had ever heard of a baby carriage?) ; mothers and daughters in
calico dresses and sunbonnets ; men and boys wearing hats made
by the thrifty housewives from straw carefully laid aside the
previous year; little boys with pants that had been made long,
worn short, exposing bare feet and legs so brown one would have
guessed they belonged to the natives. Soon the carriages passed
slowly down the line, with President Young and company bowing
as graciously to us as if we were members of the royal house of
England.
That evening we held our meeting in» the one small public
building ; the message was of cheer, good will, faith, hope, and the
reward that comes from well doing. President Young blessed
us as a father blesses dearly beloved children.
On one of the late visits made by President Young to thje
southern part of the territory, he was accompanied by his old
friend, Colonel Thomas L. Caine, who was in poor health. It
was hoped a winter in Dixie's mild climate would prove beneficial
to him. Col. Caine was a small man, educated, refined, a gentleman
in every sense of the word, with eyes that spoke volumes. There
is something attractive in friendship, but it touches the divine
when it exists between such men as Col. Caine and President
Young.
Protective Values of Pioneer Foods
By Jean Cox
Although the food supply of the pioneers was extremely
meagre compared with the variety and abundance of our present
markets and storerooms, the protective values were present in
proportionately greater amounts than they are now found in
many of the * present highly refined foodstuffs.
In pioneer times, methods of food manufacture were neces-
sarily simple. In many cases dire necessity demanded that all or
practically all of the available foods be used. Waste of
foodstuffs was considered unethical if not worthy of greater
punishment. While the pioneer sometimes ate food that did not
especially appeal to the palate, both hunger and great need pre-
vented encouragement of many food fancies or idiosyncrasies
which ordinarily tend to limit the variety of foods eaten by the
individual or group.
What Are the Protective Foods?
The term "protective foods" simply means those that con-
tribute to growth, reproduction, and healthful maintenance. Foods
of this class are relatively high in ash, vitamins, and certain kinds
of protein. When any diet fails to supply these important foods,
although it may be adequate in terms of energy requirement, there
is necessarily a decrease in the degree of well being and the
rate of growth.
Where the diet, over a considerable period of time, is
noticeably deficient in vitamins and ash, there is a corresponding
decrease in resistance to disease as well as a lowering of general
well being-. Where a limited diet, furnishing but a few of the
protective foods, is the rule, there is a general tendency to colds
and to a run-down condition in the spring. Because of the im-
possibility of having a variety of protective foods all of the year,
it is generally conceded that the kinds and amount of illness among
pioneers were proportionately greater in the spring than at other
seasons of the year. This low resistance to colds and other germ
diseases always results where the late winter and spring diets do
not contain sufficient foods that are high in the vitamins and ash.
Food Economies in Pioneer Times
Owing to the difficulties in getting to markets as well as to
the low available money income in pioneer life, the farmer's
bank account was evidenced in the wheat and potato bins, cattle
and sheep herds, and the family storeroom or cellar. Part of the
responsibility of the housewife was to portion out the foodstuffs
so that the supplies would extend to the following harvest or
388 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
future source of supply. It was therefore necessary that food
consumption conform to the strictest standards of economy.
Fortunately for the pioneers, potatoes were usually cooked
with their jackets on, thus making available the valuable ash
constituents close to the skin, which are frequently lost in our
present methods of preparation. Fruit butters also conserved
more ash than do the present day jams and jellies with their
relatively high contents of sugar.
High Values! in Parts Now Discarded
When an animal was killed for food, common custom made
good use of different parts of the carcass now frequently dis-
carded. While the preparation and consumption of brains, blood
pudding, head cheese or scrapple, as well as the wider use of
internal organs, extended the meat supply of the family, these
facts alone do not tell all of the story.
Recent scientific study has shown that the parts of the animal
used from necessity by the pioneers had proportionately greater
food value than the present generally accepted choice of muscle
meats. Thus necescity again furnished some degree of health
insurance to people having a meager food supply. It is interesting
to note that muscle meats compared with the rest of the edible car-
cass are surprisingly rich in protein of a superior quality as well
as in ash and vitamins.
In cereal consumption among pioneers, two factors contributed
to the use of practically the entire grain. Probably the biggest
reason was the limited production of both wheat and corn — a
condition that made it necessary to eat practically all of the
available grains. The limited amounts harvested were far too
precious for human needs to allow much waste or to use grain
as food for farm animals. Another factor was that the crude
milling of grains removed only the two outer coverings, the bran
and snorts. Frequently, however, both of these were used for
food. While the supply remained limited, it was common custom
to use so-called "shorts," and frequently some of the bran, in
bread making.
Rough Foods Enhance Growth
This custom contributed to the health of the family, since
the outer coverings and germ, which are now removed in
milling, furnish a fairly good source of ash and vitamins. Big
business evidenced in centralized milling has made it necessary
to prepare flours with better keeping qualities than those formerly
produced, which contained the germ of the grain.
Recent studies give convincing evidence that vegetable oils
from the germs of wheat and corn are valuable for vitamin D,
which is the vitamin considered necessary for reproduction. From
PROTECTIVE VALUES OF PIONEER FOODS 389
a nutrition standpoint, there is considerable argument against the
common custom of limiting the use of cereals in the diet of
highly milled flours, which are deficient in both vitamin and ash.
The argument may be emphasized by stating that in pioneer times
the wider use of the entire grains as food afforded more protection
than do the more refined flours of the present day. It is good
nutritional practice for the family or the individual to make
habitual the use of cereal, including some of the whole grains or
else the parts of grain not found in highly milled flour.
Food Value of Molasses
Cane molasses, another pioneer food that merits discussion,
is a form of sweet furnishing a means of buying health by the
gallon or barrel.
At the Iowa Experiment Station, careful feeding experi-
ments with white rats show that cane molasses contains greater
food value than either beet molasses or sorghum. A diet sufficient
for the growth of white rats was supplemented with five, ten, or
fifteen percent of cane molasses ; the results, carefully studied,
proved that the addition of the molasses noticeably increased the
rate of growth of the rats.
It was shown also that, with rats fed on diets including
molasses, more young were born and a larger percentage of
young were reared than when the molasses was not used. The
experiment, extending through several generations, furnished
satisfactory proof that, aside from its high sugar content, molasses
is also rich in vitamins and ash. In comparison with the 100-
per cent pure cane or beet sugar, which is valuable merely for
energy, molasses is a food rich in vitamins and ash — elements that
make it valuable for both growth and reproduction.
While honey is higher than sugar in ash and vitamins, the
proportion of these is considerably less than in molasses. One
of the chief nutritive values of honey over sugar is the fact that a
more easily digested form of sugar is found in honey.
Values in Cereals and Dairy Products
Among pioneers the consumption of cereal was proportion-
ately high, the consumption of sweets low, as compared with
present standards of consumption' of cereals and sugars. Accord-
ing to recent estimates the average per capita sugar consumption
in this country is US pounds per year as compared with the
average consumption of 11 pounds in 1827. The amount of sugar
consumed has rather steadily increased. Recent and careful studies
indicate that the low sugar consumption by the pioneers had some
advantages over the present high intake of various kinds of sweets
and confections.
The more generous use of milk, butter, cheese, and eggs had
distinct nutritiye value in pioneer diets. This class of perishable
390 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
foods was in those times an important part of the family food
% supply. These foods, exceptionally rich in vitamins and ash,
contain also superior varieties of protein. When used to supple-
ment cereals these proteins from milk and eggs are more valu-
able than protein from other sources. Thus the generous use of
dairy products and whole grains in addition to the consumption
of green and root vegetables furnished building material for good
teeth and strong bones.
While the pioneers, from necessity, frequently used "greens"
to supplement the scanty supply of staple foods, this exigency
should be considered, in the light of modern science, as a health
contribution. The general acceptance of mustard, wild spinach,
beet and turnip tops as a part of the diet from early spring into
summer gave a certain degree of health protection and helped
to establish a wider range of food selection among pioneers.
A Good but Meager Fare
Though the pioneers were often tired of their limited fare,
and though there have been, unquestionably, some rather serious
results from restricted diets, yet it is safe to say that the higher
values of the common foods of the pioneers as compared with the
more highly milled and refined foods of the present time, did much
to give them health, the courage to fight Indians, and the en-
durance to wrest their living from raw and unbroken lands.
It is not the purpose of this article to idealize pioneer foods,
nor in any way to give the impression that in the early settlement
of this State it was comfortable to be cold, hungry, or to have
only half enough food ; but the fact remains that the common table
resources of fifty years ago contributed food elements to the
average diet which have now been removed by the competition and
the economic necessities of big business.
It is an accepted fact among nutrition experts that both
present and future generations are bound to suffer from the
results of a diet composed largely of highly milled white flours,
refined sugar, and fats. During the different manufacturing
processes much of the ash and vitamins have been removed.
In some cases these products have been put on the market in a
more easily marketable form,, but in other cases these so-called
unrefined parts of the foods have been widely used in feeding
cattle and fowls. Cattle breeders and poultry men realize that
the outer coverings of grain, and molasses from beet sugar, are
very valuable to them.
The present high cost of perishable fruits, vegetables, and
dairy products is a factor limiting generous consumption of these
foods in many homes. In order to insure satisfactory nutrition for
the family, these facts need to be brought frequently to the atten-
tion of the housewife until protective foods are considered a
necessary part of the family diet.
Mary Hood Johnstone Ruff
There are always places in the world where pioneering must
be done. In any form of pioneering, women who can fit into
the many situations, and particularly those who appear to have
intuitive ability to care for the sick, are invaluable.
Such a woman was Mary Hood Johnstone Ruff. Her path
in life led her into one of Utah's mining camps, where many
foreigners live, and where pioneer work must always be done.
In addition to the usual difficulties of life in a mining town, she
chanced to be living in Scofield at the time of the appalling disaster.
She was one of the heroines who fought through that terrible
period of misery, bringing relief to the suffering and comfort to
the stricken ones of that unexampled calamity.
Born in the quaint little town of Bathgate, Scotland, April
392 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
27, 1854, Mary was the daughter of Nicol and Angelina O'Neil
Hood, who were among the early converts to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that land.
When we think of a family of eleven children to be taken care
of, and the crippled father of the home under the necessity
of providing for them all with the use of only the thumb and
two fingers of the left hand, the struggles and privations of this
family can be visualized. A portion of Father Hood's left and
the entire right hand had been lost in a mine accident.
At the birth of Sister Ruff's youngest sister, the mother
died ; and the responsibility of a mother was taken over by
Margaret, who acted in this capacity for a little over a year, or
until the father also had passed on.
From this time on it was Sister Ruff's lot to rear this family,
with the exception of an older sister, who had married. Through
Mary's teaching and example all the brothers and sisters became
active Church workers ; and through her labors and savings she
was able to send this entire family to Utah, in accordance with
her mother's dying request.
On June 26, 1879, she married Samuel Johnstone, by whom
she had three children — two daughters and a son, two of whom
survive her — Mrs. Alfred Newren of Salt Lake City and Mrs.
W. D. Stillman of Denver. Together they worked in the cause
of truth and continued to assist the Hood family in their en-
deavors to settle in Zion.
In June of 1891 her husband passed away, and once again
the entire responsibility of rearing a family was upon her shoulders.
With her youngest sister, Angelme, whom she had reared from
babyhood, she opened a restaurant in Glasgow, and was able to
save sufficient means so that in May of 1892 she left Scotland
with her three children and sister, arriving in Salt Lake City
during the following month — the triumph of many years of
faith and work. In the following November they moved to the
town of Scofield, and for the past thirty-seven years this has
been her home.
Leaving the old world did not cool the ardor she had shown
in the work of the gospel. It was not long after her arrival in
Scofield that she was chosen as counselor in the Primary Associa-
tion ; in this work she labored for over five years. Her chosen
field, however, was that of a relief worker. She had been called
upon to rear her father's family, her own family ; and after a
few years in Scofield, her brother John losing his wife, Sister
Johnstone for a long time mothered his two children.
Her life's work after arriving in Utah was destined to
be that of nurse and comforter, both to members of the Church
and to non-members. Her children grew up in Scofield with her,
MARY HOOD JOHNSTONE RUFF 393
following their mother in the paths of righteousness. Her sister
Angeline married and had a family. Then, in May, 1900, occurred
the great Scofield Mine Disaster, in which 203 men and boys lost
their lives. During these terrible times she was one of the most
active among relief workers, assisting in preparing the bodies
for burial, and in ministering to the injured. Her sister, Angeline,
lost her husband at this time, making it necessary for her sister
to find employment; and once more Mrs. Johnstone mothered
another's family. Shortly after this great mine disaster, in
November of 1900, she was called upon to pass through one of her
severest trials, when through an injury, her sixteen year old
son, Andrew, was called to the other side.
In 1909, Mary Hood Johnstone was married to Bishop
George RufT of Scofield, and together they have faithfully served
the people of their ward. Mrs. RufT was active in 'Relief
Society work for nearly forty years, serving as president of
the ward organization at Scofield for more than twenty-five years.
On May 10, 1929, she died at Scofield.
Because of her untiring efforts and her unselfish devotion
to God's work and to the relief of suffering among her fellow
citizens, Mrs. Ruff lives in the memory of those whose good
fortune it was to come in contact with her. High ideals, noble
aims, and genuine character — these qualities have become an in-
spiration to those who lived near enough to know her well.
Regardless of color or creed, she cheerfully administered to
the needs of all, and was never too busy nor was any hour too
early or too late for her unhesitatingly to answer the call to
service.
Wherever we may be born, in stately mansion, or in flat, or
tenement, or under the humblest conditions, we are pretty much
alike, and it would be a rash man who would try to measure brains
by the cost of the nursery. Go anywhere you will, there is a humble
soul demanding a fair chance, having the right to know what has
happened in the world, having the right to be enriched with the
stories and poetry of life, having the right to be inspired by the)
deeds of men of force who have lived amid struggles in the
past, having the right to be shown the way upward to that whole-
some life which is absolutely independent of circumstances and
which is strong and successful because it is the life of a man or a
woman doing a man's part or a woman's part in the world which
is fairly understood.— CTzar/^ Evans Hughes.
A Needle in a Haystack
By Josephine G. Moench
Feeling that my end is near, I have a desire to chronicle some
of the important events of my life.
As far as I have been able to learn I am the only needle that
was ever found in a haystack. This fact together with other
important and interesting happenings connected with my career
gives me a desire to write a brief history of myself.
Life in its fullness began for me when I reached the end of
a long journey from Salt Lake City to a little town in the south-
ernmost part of the State of Utah. As the boxes were being
unloaded from the covered wagon and carried into the little store
and unpacked, I heard a charming little voice say, "Oh, Mother,
here are the knitting needles, can you set up my knitting tonight?"
and the mother answered, "I will if there is a set of needles left
after those that we promised get theirs."
I rejoiced that I was in the bottom of the box, for I longed
to have for my mistress the little girl with the charming voice.
I had not long to wait ; before nightfall the little girl in a rapture
of delight was carrying me and my three companions home.
"Father says these are to be my very own," the little girl said
as she ran to show her mother.
My little mistress was to knit first some stockings for herself ;
and how delighted she was as she ran with her knitting to show
her little sister, near the same age, who lived next door. These
little sisters were inseparable companions ; together they made then-
plans for the summer, talking of the stockings they would knit.
What a delightful summer I spent with them. When I look
back on it now, it seems that my three companions and I were the
most important things in these charming little girls' lives. Every
cozy little nook would be converted into a playhouse, and then-
knitting seemed to be the most important part of their play.
In haying time, a favorite place to sit and knit was the
stack of newly made hay, and one day I slipped from my littld
mistress's hand into the hay stack. Search as they would, they
could not find me. Oh, the tragedy of it! To wait for another
set of needles to come from Salt Lake City would mean weeks,
and the little sister would be whole stockings ahead in the knitting
race. They searched and searched, but still I could not be found.
Suddenly my little mistress said, "Let's pray the Lord to
help us find it." Kneeling on the hay and bowing their little
heads, they said their simple prayer. Scarcely had they begun
their search again when they found me ; and like the woman in
A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK 395
the Bible who lost her silver and found it, they were happier than
if I had never been lost.
When my little mistress related the incident to her mother,
the latter said, "Perhaps you had better exchange needles with me.
Yours is an extra fine set and I would be very sorry to have one
lost."
So I was transferred from my little mistress's knitting to that
of the mother's. I soon learned to love the little mother as I had
loved my little mistress. I have rejoiced in her happiness and
mourned over her sorrows. Her knitting seemed to rest her in
body and in spirit ; and as she sat knitting in the evenings after
the hard trying days which only the pioneer women of Utah could
know, happiness and peace would come and a serenity which only a
patient and courageous soul can know.
I began my memoirs as I lay where the dear hands had left
me the night she slept peacefully away to awaken no more in this
life; and I thought my cup of happiness was full when I saw her
pass to the great beyond with no suffering.
Another great happiness was to come to me. I am back
once more in the hands of my first little mistress, herself a grand-
mother now, and I look forward to spending many more happy
hours with my first love. I listen with pride as she sits with her
knitting and relates to her grand-children the story of how I was
lost and found in a haystack.
The Pioneers
Dust and heat, a trackless waste,
Moving covered wagon train,
Dull, slow thud of oxen hoof,
Hunger, danger, thirst and pain.
Onward, on, inspired band,
Hearts that burn with truth and light ;
Blazing sun and dust by day,
Lurking savages by night.
Westward ho, to hills and vales,
Westward ho, to promised land,
Sage brush, rocks and dead salt sea,
Alkali and oaken sand.
Faith to light their dreary way,
Truth to brighten miles they trod ;
In the shelter of the Rockies,
They were free to worship God.
Pioneers
STANLEY VESTAL'S KIT CARSON— THE HAPrY
WARRIOR OF THE OLD WEST
By Lais V . Hales
"On Christmas Day, 1809, an undersized, tow-headed, bandy-
legged, blue-eyed boy sped into the world, squalling lustily with
an uncontrolled excitement which no later adventure could arouse
in him. Small, bandy-legged, blue-eyed, and sandy-haired he
remained to the end of his days, and to this unimpressive appear-
ance the sun added freckles."
Yet this boy, apparently no different from other lads of his
family and community, was to be the archetype of the American
pioneer. He was to become the hero "who personified American
enterprise in the Far West — the banner which was to wave the
pioneers forward into the Great American Desert." He was to
become the hero of the prairies, the "soul of the Old West."
In Stanley Vestal's new book, "Kit Carson," we have the
authentic story of this boy as well as a vivid picture of the old
frontier — the pioneer West. It is artistically, vividly, and au-
thentically written. It follows Kit Carson down through his life
as greenhorn, mountain man, plainsman, pathfinder, soldier,
rancher, Indian agent, patriot and peacemaker.
Even as a very young boy Mr. Vestal felt that there was
something wrong with the standard biographies of Kit Carson,
which portrayed him as a striking but unaccountable hero. These
books did not relate Kit to the times he lived in, and he therefore
seemed unreal and colorless. Mr. Vestal felt that now was the
time to write to the adventures of Kit for soon "there would be
no one who had talked face to face with his contemporaries, no one
left who knew what a tepee smells like, or how a beaver trap was
set, no one to make real the background out of which his adventures
grew, and against which they must be seen."
As Odysseus was a symbol of the Greek seafarings, so Kit
Carson has become a symbol of the American frontier and it is
important, Mr. Vestal says, that we "understand and love the
thing Kit represents — that Frontier which made these States a
Nation." Mr. Vestal knows the country over which Kit Carson
ranged. He grew up with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, the
tribes that Kit knew best. Today Mr. Vestal is Professor of
English in the University of Oklahoma and a writer of note.
The Carsons had been pioneers since the first one left Scot-
land. Very early Kit saw the cruelty of life in the wilderness, and
PIONEERS 397
his quick impulsiveness became "tempered by caution which nicely
balanced the swift decision and passionate action so characteristic
of the man." Kit became very early an expert trapper and Indian
scalper. During the long winters while he could not trap beaver,
Kit and his companions would tell stories around the fire. Here
Kit heard of the "giants who lived on an island in the Great
Salt Lake, giants who built immense log houses and ate corn from
cobs a yard long. What folks thought to be forest fires was only
the smoke from their pipes."
Another story that fascinated Kit was that of a crystal moun-
tain so beautifully clear that its location and size could only be
guessed by the stack of bones of animals and birds which had
broken their necks by running into it. Still another was the story
about the echo in the Big Horns, which took eight hours to return,
so that a man when going to bed could shout "Get up !" and next
morning he would be promtly awakened by the echo "Get up!"
During these long winters Kit made many friends and they
were real ones. The very life Kit and his companions led called
for real friendship. Kit won the reputation of absolute truth-
fulness and reliability. "The clear eyes and clear head, the un-
questioning blue eyes of a man who first made sure he was right
and then went ahead — these gave Kit Carson the character which
made him the power he was among the trappers."
As to the Indians Kit entertained no "silly twaddle" regarding
humanity or their rights. He had been brought up to believe that
every man should look out for himself. He killed no more Indians
than was necessary; and all who knew him are agreed upon his
mildness, gentleness, his chivalry to women, his courage, his
coolness against hopeless odds, and his generally inoffensive
manner. He was superstitutious. If he missed a fair shot in
battle he would not fire at the Indian again but let him go.
His ideas, according to Mr. Vestal, were childlike, tradi-
tional, unquestioned beliefs. He believed in God, in the right, in
courage, honor, integrity, justice, and mercy. He belongs to the
Old West and not the Wild West, which was the age of clowns
and gunmen, the bandits and the land-grabbers, the gold-seekers.
The blowing up of Bent's Old Fort marked the end of the Old
West and Kit and his old friends saw the plains and mountains
swarm with reckless, ignorant, stupid, untrained, undisciplined
white men who incensed the Indians and brought on unnecessary
and stupid bloodshed.
Kit accompanied Fremont on part of his journey to St. Louis,
where he delivered his Report, which determined the "Mormons"
on their Westward march. Mr. Vestal closes his really scholarly
and intensely interesting book "Kit Carson" with this paragraph :
"But there was no pose in Kit Carson ; and the West may hold
his name high above the movie cowboys, the Wild West showmen,
398 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
the gaudy, strutting soldiers, the cruel killers, who clamor down
the old, loyal, patient courage of the pioneer. For Kit was greater
than all of them.
"This is the happy warrior ; this is he
That every man in arms should wish to be."
Hallowed Ground
By Merling Dennis Clyde
O Death, where is thy victory? This plot
Marked round by iron rim speaks dumbly here :
Observe this resting place of pioneer.
The right to worship as she chose, her lot
She cast with those who marked an epoch great —
Out West where freedom with their lives could mate ;
Made history in blood to seek their God,
And fell, like her, a parcel of the sod.
And when the great steel monster hewed its line
Upon uncharted range and desert grim,
Directly where warm rain and bright sunshine
Caressed the snows on lonely grave's round rim —
Great minds debated — gave her right-of-way ;
She sanctified the spot there where she lay.
Rebecca Winters was a "Mormon" pioneer, enroute West with
other Saints. She died and was buried in Nebraska. An iron wagon
rim, with her name upon it, was placed around the grave. Later,
when the Burlington Route came West, the grave was found to be
directly in the line of its survey. When the railroad president was
asked what was to be done, the answer came back, "Rebecca Win-
ters has the right-of-way". Later, a monument was placed at the
grave, and these words from a "Mormon" hymn engraved upon it :
"And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day ; all is well ;
We then are free from toil and sorrow too,
With the just we shall dwell."
Notes From The Field
In Memoriam.
It is with feelings of great sadness that we have to report
the death of Sister Lillie Belle Gledhill, president of the Sevier
Stake Relief Society, which occurred May 1, 1929. J Sister
Gledhill has served most faithfully and efficiently since her
calling to this office in June, 1913. In all her work she demon-
strated the finest type of service, and that which is the material-
ization of the real Relief Society spirit. The welfare of her
Relief Society sisters in the whole community was ever the ! first
thought in her mind, and she gave herself, with heart and soul,
to the tasks before her. '.There was always the very finest type
of cooperation in the stake over which Sister Gledhill presided
with the General Board of Relief Society, and every effort was
made to 'carry out, to the fullest extent, the instructions that were
sent from the general office. The spirit of love and faith manifest
throughout all of Sister Gledhill's life was eloquent of her life's
ideals, viz., efforts to serve her fellowmen. President Louise Y.
Robison, and every member of the General Board join in extending
condolence to Sister Gledhill's family and her community, in the
passing of so beloved and worthy a woman.
REORGANIZATIONS
There have been a number of reorganizations in the Relief
Society in the various stakes :
Emery Stake.
On April 28, 1929, at a stake conference, President Louisa
Oveson, at her own request, was released as president of the
Emery stake. Trie General Board of Relief Society wishes to
congratulate Sister Oveson on the nineteen years of excellent
service she has rendered in the capacity of stake president. Called
by President Reuben G. Miller, before the Emery stake was divided
into the Emery and Carbon stakes, as it now is, Sister Oveson
has- served and given the very finest efforts of a faithful Latter-
day Saint in the discharge of her duties. In retiring from this
position, at her own request, Sister Oveson carries with her the
love and best wishes of every sister in her community, and can cer-
tainly take with her into her retirement the feeling that she has
completed a worthy labor in the service of her fellowmen. At a
stake union meeting on May 11. 1929, Mrs. Margaret Peterson
was sustained as president of Emery stake ; Mrs. Nellie Tuttle
as first counselor; Mrs. Eva Killpack as. second counselor; Mrs.
Minnie Ungerman as secretary-treasurer.
400 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Juab Stake.
At the recent quarterly conference the Juab stake Relief
Society board was reorganized, and the following officers sus-
tained : president, Mrs. Edna J. Cazier ; first counselor, Mrs.
Florence H. Chase ; second counselor, Mrs. Ethel C. Gass ; sec-
retary-treasurer, Mrs. Anna D. Allred ; and the following board
members : Maud Forrest, Lillian Cowan, Ethel A. Irons, Chloe
N. Bailey, Elizabeth Pace, Laura D. Brough, Ellen C. Cole, Vivian
Hoyt, Etha B. Parkes.
San Juan Stake.
The San Juan stake Relief Society was recently reorganized.
Mrs. Lucinda A. Redd, after years of fine service in behalf of
Relief Society was released as president, this action at the request
of Sister Redd herself. In her retirement from the office of stake
president, she carries with her the love and appreciation of all
the sisters of her stake, for service nobly rendered in the cause
of humanity. The new executive officers of San Juan stake are :
Mrs. Hattie R. Barton, president ; Mrs. Margaret C. Perkins,
first counselor; Mrs. Marian G. Nielson, second counselor; Mrs.
Marian P. Nielson, secretary-treasurer. The members of the
stake board have not yet been selected.
Weber Stake.
The most recent news of reorganizations coming to the office
is from Weber stake. At the conference of the Relief Society of
the Weber stake, held at Ogden, May 7, 1929, President Marianne
M. Browning was honorably released as president of the Relief
Society on account of poor health. At the regular meeting of the
Stake Presidency, High Council and Stake Board held May 15,
1929, Mrs. Katherine G. Wright was chosen as president of the
Relief Society, with Mrs. Charlotte Jacobs as her first counselor.
The other counselor, secretary-treasurer and board members are
yet to be selected.
South African Mission.
A most interesting caller at the Relief Society office recently
was Mrs. Clara A. Martin, recently returned from the South
African mission, where she has served as president of the Relief
Society. Her missionary experience began in April, 1926, and
for the past three years she has labored in this far distant field.
In leaving the South African mission Mrs. Martin felt that she
had left it in good condition ; there are many obstacles to be met
in this field, but she feels that the sisters are doing the very
best they can under the circumstances. There are five organiza-
tions of the Relief Society in the South African mission, with a
membership of sixty. While it is necessary to make some changes
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 401
in the lessons as given in the Magazine, as far as possible every
effort is made to put into effect the general plan of study and work
as suggested. by the General Board.
Woodruff Stake.
Many people have an idea that it is impossible to grow
flowers in some parts of our western wilderness, but the very
splendid effort made in the Woodruff stake Relief Society last
year, is an answer to that question. During the class leaders'
convention of the Woodruff stake a remarkable demonstration
of what can be done in the way of growing flowers was given.
Dahlias, roses, zinnias, sweet peas, in fact the most attractive type
of flowers were in great profusion as evidence of the untiring
energy of the Relief Society sisters in this work of beautifying
the home and community. All the wards in the Woodruff stake
were represented at this Reunion, which was a combination of
demonstrations of Work and Business Meeting, of Community
Beautification, and of Teacher-training, quite typical of the ac-
tivities of the Relief Society. The interior of the L. D. S. chapel
presented a most beautiful sight when it opened for the Saturday
morning of the Relief Society reunion and bazaar. The rostrum
appeared to be a veritable flower garden, and the walls of the
building were covered with needlework of all kinds, representing
what the members of the Relief Society are accomplishing during
their leisure moments. Vegetables, too, were on display, all
of them grown by the women, whose work was interesting and
instructive in all departments of this exhibit. Prizes were offered
by the business houses of Lyman for the best showing by com-
munity and individuals, and it was very fine to note that each
community excelled along some particular line, which resulted in
the prizes being widely distributed.
Big Horn Stake.
During the past season the Big Horn stake Relief Society
has certainly been active in all its departments. Some new
branch and ward organizations have been completed, and a
plan for departmental work has been worked out. The officers
are enthusiastic about their work. The stake board is getting
out a handbook containing general information that every
Relief Society member should know in regard to the history,
organization, aims and activities of the Relief Society of the
whole Church. In the back of the book will be many sugges-
tions that will strengthen the testimonies of the sisters. The
aim of the book is to give a better understanding of the scope
of the Relief Society and arouse pride in its membership. The
wards have accepted the new plan for visiting teachers, and
are working it out very successfully.
402 RELIEP SOCIETY MAGAZINE
South Davis Stake.
During the spring a very successful exhibit of needlework was
held in the banquet room of the Bountiful First Ward amusement
hall. Each of the eight wards of the stake was well represented.
Every available space was utilized and presented a beautiful
appearance, displaying to advantage the many useful things made
by the South Davis Relief Society women. At the March union
meeting flowers and shrubs was the subject of an interesting
discussion conducted by a local nurseryman, and his advice to the
women will be most useful in the work they hope to accomplish
this summer. The Relief Society song practice has been featured
during the year, both at the union meetings and in the wards, and
most gratifying results are in evidence.
"Let the Mountains Shout for Joy"
By C. O. A.
The night of July 28, 1926, is long to be remembered by the
thousands of Angelenos who had the rare privilege of attending
the "tyEormon" Tabernacle Choir concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
It was an idyllic night, without a cloud in the sky. A slight, cool
breeze stirred the leaves on the trees ; the sweet fragrance of the
wild flowers filled the air. As it was a moonless night, the stars
in the mighty vault of heaven shone with unusual brightness.
The famous Holywood BOwl, reconstructed at the expense
of hundreds of thousands of dollars, presented an awe-inspiring
sight. It is a depression scooped out by the hand of Nature in
the Hollywood hills, and finished by the hand of man until it
resembles Valhalla, or some such idealistic meeting place of the
gods.
In short, the time, the place, and the occasion formed a perfect
setting for a scene such as is very rarely enjoyed by the average
human being.
When the powerful lights were turned on at 8 :30 p. m. and the
black and white figures of the famous choir were discernable upon
the stage, a thrill went through the audience ; and when they raised
their united voices in the beautiful song, "Let the Mountains Shout
for Joy", it seemed that the very hills of Hollywood joined in the
shout of praise as the echoes from far and near rebounded back
and thrilled the great audience again and again.
It was a sight and occasion never to be forgotten ; and tho
twelve or fifteen thousand Angelenos who had the esteemed priv-
ilege of being present that night, went away with the conviction
that one thing of which the "Mormon" Church may justly be
proud is the great Tabernacle Choir.
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Shoshone Falls, Idaho Frontispiece
The Niagara of the West... Glen Perrins 405
Miss Lena M. Phillips (Portrait) 406
The Touch of a Woman's Hand.
Cora C. Ritchie 407
Great Salt Lake and Its Islands
.Elizabeth C. Poter-Rissanen 409
Editorial — Dean Hibbard s Three Import-
ant Questions 415
The Daughters of Men 416
The Children's Vacation Hour 417
The Desert Mrs. George Q. Rich 418
The Bible: The Inspiration of Mankind.
Bessie Redding 419
Benediction Mary Anderson 424
What Bird is* That? J. H. Paul 425
The Shadows Alberta H. Christensen 429
Withdrawal Announcement 430
Eliza R. Snow Memorial Poem Contest.... 431
Through Clouds to Sunshine
Sophy Valentine 432
Teach Me Arthur James Bowers 438
Let Martha Rest Sundays. . .Ethel C. Butt 439
Notes from the Field 442
Vacation's Disease. Linnie Fisher Robinson 446
Guide Lessons for October 447
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
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VOL. XVI
AUGUST, 1929
NO. 8
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THE NIAGARA OF THE
WEST
By Glen Perrins
Mighty Shoshone Falls,
Idaho is a sight one will never
forget.
To gaze upon this creation
of Mother Nature, 212 feet
high, the water booming over
the precipice in continuous
roar, holds one fast in awe
The water, answering the
call of the sea, is rushing,
tumbling, 'falling down over
the high cliffs in a hurry to
get to level territory.
Truly worth the visit is
the sight of this powerful
waterfall, the Niagara of the
West, Shoshone Falls.
§
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'^^<^^<«<^t<^l^^^l^l^l^^^C^l^'^^l^C<^l^t^^^l^<<^<^^C^t^
Miss Lena M. Phillips
President Business and Professional Women's Clubs — 1928 — who
touched the button and illuminated Shoshone Falls.
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI AUGUST, 1929 No. 8
The Touch of a Woman's Hand
By Corn C. Ritchie
At last the great Shoshone Falls at Twin Falls, Idaho,
were to be lighted. For days men had planned and studied,
and now the necessary money was ready.
On May 28, 1928, a big celebration was arranged. The
falls, higher than the famous Niagara, were to be illumined,
so that by night as by day their beauty and grandeur could be
seen in a nature color scheme. They are 212 feet high and
across the entire width of the river water plunges in white
and downy clouds. The falls are located on the mighty
Snake River, five miles east of Twin Falls City. As one nears
the molten masses of lava, by the edge of the canyon, the
rumble and roar of the falls increases till at high water it
is deafening.
This night the rocks were covered with thousands of
people, old and young. Cars from many States had been seen
on the highways leading to the falls. From, the level above the
falls the first sight of the Snake River, muddy and treacherous,
angry and powerful, causes a feeling of fear to grip the soul.
Then, as it breaks over the falls, the water takes on a false tone.
Muddy swirls are changed to soft billowy white. Still farther
the spray breaks up into a mist as dainty as baby-breath
flowers and as alluring as the Lorelei.
Thousands of people clamber up and down the precipitous
edges of cliffs, in every direction. Cars are parked on the
canyon rims and on opposite sides of the river.
The water, leaving the falls and rolling on, gives- life to
thousands of acres of otherwise barren waste. Meditating,
listening, wondering, we gaze far out over all the panoramas.
Level streches of water, gorgeous falls, sparkling spray and
delightful mists — then the still, deep water so far below that
408 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
one becomes dizzy from looking down. We meditate on God
and man; on God the creator and this splendid miracle, just
one small item in his vast creation ! or listen to those who
exclaim, "How wonderful that man could light up this great
spectacle;" or wonder what this mighty Snake River with its
molten masses of lava looked like when God planned a change
and formed it; What was it like when the impenetrable lava
was soft and hot? or when the crash came, and these vast crev-
ices were opened? What sounds? What shocks? Who saw?
What of man? What deep sorrow? What terrors?
The answers were given only by the ever-onward rush
and roar of the mighty falls — mocking, laughing, sneering, but
ever falling, falling, falling.
Why, the people have shrunken smaller, insignificant as
the busy ants that hurry over the round top of the lava seat.
The car lights are as dim as the distant stars. Yes ; but man
is struggling — is going on, is imitating the one great Creator.
How near will he ever attain?
Even now, in order to change darkness to light, man is
harnessing part of the vast volume of water for light and
power.
As nine o'clock approached, excitement ran high. A wom-
an's hand to illuminate that great river ! The touch of a finger
was to change the face of that dark, fearsome, roaring chasm,
into life and beauty beyond description.
Miss Lena Phillips of New York, the President of the
Business and Professional Women's Club of the United States,
was given the privilege of performing this mjracle. At a
given signal Miss Phillips touched a button. A glow of light
breaking over the darkness brought color and beauty indescrib-
able to river, falls, spray, and mists. Darkness turned to day.
Void changed to life. The same river, the same falls, spray,
mist; but oh! how different. How like the wonders wrought
in all life by the touch of a woman's hand ! Silence and gloom
followed by exclamations of awe. Thousands stood, one
mighty "Oh ! how grand," was heard mingling with the roar of
the mighty Shoshone.
The episode was significant of woman's life, her works,
her miracles, her absolute control of all life, if she but touches
the right spring.
I wonder if God did not create the river, the rocks, the
falls, the mountains, the sea, the land, then ask woman ever to
carry on, to give life, light, and beauty. Just to look at the
great Shoshone Falls, suggests that God has never failed.
Pray that God's woman never may.
Great Salt Lake and Its Islands
By Elizabeth C. Porter-Rissanen
The somber islands ride in a sullen sea. Although the white
man's knowledge of the Great Salt Lake dates back only a hun-
dred years, the mountain peaks that rise above the surface of this
saline sea have already made their own history.
The Water of the Lake
Most of the islands lack fresh water and are therefore un-
inhabitable.
For the rest, the water of the Great Salt Lake offers the finest
bathing in the world. It is so heavy with salt that the human
body can float on it like a cork, and it is so dense that it holds
the warmth of the sun long after that orb has sunk into its
sea burial.
One enterprising matron floated a round dinner table fully
set on the buoyant waters and her guests swam up and helped
themselves to viands buffet style.
While reclining luxuriously on his back, the bather may
view the gorgeous sunset, painted with the rugged colors and
imbued with the mystery of the North.
Nearby is the new Saltair, the modern Moorish pleasure
palace, risen, like Venus, new-born, from the sea.
Jim Bridger Discovered It
Profit is the first thing that lures men into the unknown
places, so we find the fur traders in the vanguard of civilization.
To Jim Bridger belongs the credit of the discovery of the
Great Salt Lake. In fact his description of the saline sea helped
earn for him the title of prince of prevaricators. He had found
that his stories of Yellowstone Park were not believed, especially
when he described pools cool in the bottom and hot on top, so
you could catch a fish and cook it on the way out.
He was acting as scout for the fur hunters camped on Bear
River. They had a rendezvous for their skins in the nearby
"Cache" valley. A dispute arose among the men as to the course
of the river. Bridger volunteered to settle it as wagers had been
posted. He followed the Bear to its mouth where it emptied
into the lake, when the immense sheet of water burst upon his
view. The scout waded out into the lake and found that it
prickled his skin. The only thing that lives in this water is a
minute brine shrimp, one of the two things in the world known
to have no natural enemies.
On the west shore of the lake, Jim Bridger set traps for
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GREAT SALT LAKE AND ITS ISLANDS 411
beaver. When he reported his find, the rest of the trappers sailed
down in their boats of skins — Englishmen, Frenchmen, and
Americans, in search of pelts. Like the Ute Indians that preceded
them, they found the hunting poor. This was in the winter of
1825.
Captain Bonneville's Expeditions
Captain Bonneville, a young army officer on leave, outfitted
several fur-hunting expeditions to this region. He provided them
with luxurious equipment. One of these, the Walker party, in-
tended to explore the country, but they found the northwest shore
a barren desert. Sorely harassed by Indians, they trekked over
the mountains to California. This was in 1832. Bonneville gave
his name to the immense fresh water lake which formerly covered
the Great basin, ot which the Salt Lake is but the shrunken
remnant.
Fossils of this early time may be found in the cave at Gar-
field ; the old level of the lake may be discerned on the terraces
of the mountains. At Garfield the mountains come down to the
water's edge. Out in the opalescent sea looms Black Rock, like
a medieval castle. On the blue and lavender expanse float the
other islands like dim mirages.
Terraced up the slopes of the point of the mountain are the
Arthur and the Magna plants and the American Smelting and
Refining Company, where the copper is extracted from ore that
is torn from the mountain at Bingham.
Birds of the Salt Lake
Gulls, pelicans, herons, and snipe undulate in the water.
Except the snipe, their home is on Bird Island. These aquatic
fowls nest on this small island, which has neither food nor fresh
water. Both of these are brought by the parent birds from
the mainland 40 miles away. This is the summer home of the
winged colony; for the great white pelicans winter on the Gulf
of Mexico and the sea gulls hie to the Pacific Coast. There is a
$100 fine for killing a sea gull in Utah because gulls were the
savior birds of the pioneers. When the young grain of the settlers
was being eaten by vast armies of crickets — bull-headed, black-
humped things, twice as large as a grasshopper — the gulls swept
in from the lake and devoured these insects — thus saving the
crops. On the Tabernacle grounds a monument has been erected
to them — the only statue it is said, ever erected to a bird.
A visitor to Bird Island in June thus describes it: "We
paid particular attention to the nesting habits of the birds, and
to the marvelous rookeries similar to those one reads of in the
South Seas. When the boat arrived at Bird Island — a small,
tapering, brush-covered hill with beaches of gray, wave-worn rocks
412 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
On Bird Island, Great Salt Lake
Photo Courtesy Union Pacific System
or of gray and white sand — innumerable gulls filled the air and
covered the rocks ; long V-shaped lines of pelicans arose mejestic-
ally on steadily beating or motionless wings ; great blue herons
stood out like picturesque statues from the higher rocks, or
slowly rose in graceful flight above our heads. The water was
covered with the birds swimming from their rocky coverts ; the
air resounded with their shrill cries ; in places the sky was ob-
scured by their number. Young pelicans in droves resembling
sheep, floundered clumsily over the rocks, trying to reach the
water ; young herons, barely able to walk or fly, struggled limping
from their large willow-built nest, and became entangled in the
greasewood. We freed one of these, hopelessly ensnared where
it might have perished. Many of the adult gulls, in their comical
and needless terror, stood on the rocks with heads thrown back
and bills open, uttering long and continuous shrieks, while brown-
ish young of all sizes scrambled over the rocks, injuring themselves
in their rush for safety."
The Lack of Fresh Water
Buffalo Island, the last stand of the almost extinct bison of
North America, has sweet water. Some of the islands, really
mountain peaks that rise above the sullen sea, are without fresh
water, therefore uninhabitable. The scenes in the "Covered
Wagon" in which the buffalo figured, were filmed here. There
is an abundance of grass. When the bulls of the herd become too
numerous, a bufTalo hunt is staged and the butcher shops in the
inter-mountain country sell "buffalo steaks" at this time. Invita-
GREAT SALT LAKE AND ITS ISLANDS 413
tions were issued to sportsmen to the "last buffalo hunt" in
November, 1926.
Among the many stories connected with this island is that of
a shipwrecked mariner. As he landed on the desolate side he
did not know that it was inhabited. He made a signal of distress
of his white shirt, then staggered around until he fell exhausted.
Fortunately for him, some herders hunting a depredating coyote
came across him lying unconscious among the brush, and rescued
him.
Fremont Island, named for the intrepid explorer, has a little
tragedy of its own. A flock of sheep were left there to forage for
themselves. The surface of the lake rose and covered the fresh
water springs from which they drank. The poor sheep had
pawed all the surrounding earth in a vain search for the life-
sustaining fluid. They were all found dead.
The Explorations by Fremont
John C. Fremont visited the, Great Salt Lake on two of his
five expeditions to the Far West. In the fall of 1843, Fremont
stood on a peninsula in a terrific storm and looked west at the
inland sea. He likened himself to Balboa discovering the Pacific
Ocean.
His party, short of provisions, were encamped on the Weber
river. (Most of these early voyagers seemed to suffer for want
of food and water.) Fremont dispatched seven men to Fort
Hall for supplies. Leaving three men in camp, their leader, with
four others, including the notorious Kit Carson, dropped down to
the mouth of the river in a rubber boat.
"Next morning they were out on the lake, fearful every
moment lest their air-blown boat should collapse and let them
into the saline but beautiful, transparent liquid. At noon they
reached one of the low, nearby islands and landed. They found
there, washed up by the waves, a dark brown bank, ten or twenty
feet in breadth, composed of the skins of worms, about the size
of oats, while the rocky cliffs were whitened by incrustations of
salt. Ascending to the highest point attainable, they took a sur-
rounding view, and called the place Disappointment Island, be-
cause they had failed to find the fertile lands and game hoped for.
Then they descended to the edge of the water, constructed lodges
out of drift-wood, built fires, and spent the night there, returning
next day in a rough sea to their mainland camp."
Two years later, in 1845, Fremont again visited this region,
camped where Salt Lake City now is, and explored the southern
portion of the lake.
Stansbury, Gunnison, Lambourne
Stansbury Island is named for a railroad surveyor. Captain
414
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
The Last Stand of the Buffalo
Howard Stansbury of the topographical engineers came west in
the spring of 1849 to explore the country in order to map out a
trans-continental route for a railroad. Beginning with the Great
Salt Lake and its islands, he gradually covered the surrounding
territory. In a year and a half his observations had extended
over an area of five thousand square miles. On leaving he dis-
posed of his wagons and spare implements to local settlers,
who in turn provided him with an escort, as a protection against
the Indians, on his return to Fort Leavenworth.
He fared better than young Gunnison, the astronomer of the
expedition, for whom one of the smaller islands is named. His
life was one of the sacrifices to the winning of the West. He
fell a victim to Indians, who, angered by the abuse of travelers
who had passed through, took it out on the next white men they
met.
Gunnison, in 1853, conducted a survey for a more southern
railroad route. He camped on the Sevier, where wood and
pasture were abundant. From there he could see the camp of
a band of Pah Utes. The savages surprised the Gunnison party
when they were at breakfast. The Indians, who had crept up
on them, discharged a volley of shots and arrows. Gunnison
ran out, calling that he was their friend. He fell, pierced by
fifteen arrows. The Utes then fell on the rest of the party.
Rescuers found their bodies mutilated, but not scalped.
The inter-mountain poet, Alfred Lambourne, who died a few
years ago, homesteaded on Gunnison Island for two years. He
has interpreted the storms of the lake, and described its color
vagaries in lyric prose.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
VIRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrg. Elise B. Alder
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs, Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Miss Alice Louise Reynolds Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager Louise Y. Roiison
Assistant Manager Amy Beown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI AUGUST, 1929 No. 8
EDITORIAL
Dean Hibbard's Three Important Questions
Of more than passing interest is the fact that, in this
issue of the Magazine, which publishes as its literature lesson
a biography of Karl G. Maeser, there appears in the "Outlook"
an article entitled "Utopia College : A Prospectus," by Addison
Hibbard, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts in the University
of North Carolina.
In the "Outlook" article the author claims that "three
questions most persistently perplex mankind, most uniformly
seek solution, and most directly relate to his well-being: From
what past does mankind come, what is his duty and purpose
in being, and what, throughout his centuries of existence, has
his experience led him to think the end of existence, the good
life?" Further Mr. Hibbard says, "We realize that to these
questions all intelligent energy and thought are untimately
directed. And around these three questions our curriculum
will be built; the unity for which we shall strive will be the
unity of life itself." That is, in the building of "Utopia Col-
lege," such unity of life will be sought for.
Any student who worked with Dr. Karl G. Maeser will
416 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
appreciate that upon these three subjects he placed chief
emphasis. For this ideal he lighted fires that burned into the
souls of his students. He told his graduates that when they
went out and engaged in teaching for the Church of Jesus
Christ, they should put first and greatest emphasis on these
three matters. We do not for an instant imagine that Mr.
Hibbard would meet these problems as Karl G. Maeser met
them; but it is vital to note that each recognizes the same ques-
tions as being of prime importance.
Dr. Maeser's interest in man's origin was electrifying,
sincere, contagious. His belief in the purpose of life made
every thought and effort that did not contribute to the great
and glorious purpose, trivial. His faith rendered absurd any
suggestion denying man's immortality. He believed implicitly
that we shall progress hereafter — that we may become perfect,
even as our Father in heaven is perfect. To him the ultimate
good was supreme.
Dr. Maeser often told his students that a different type
of educational institution was developing under the inspiration
and blessings of the Lord. His faith in his mission led him to
believe that the system of education for which he stood would
be unique.
Recently, Dr. Edwin D. Starbuck, formerly of Stanford
University and at present of the University of Iowa, told the
Latter-day Saint people that their Sunday School system more
nearly reaches the ideal in its manner of training children re-
ligiously than do the Sunday Schools of other denominations.
It would not be strange to Latter-day Saints if in the future
their educational projects should turn out to be superior, and
that they would give the world a type of college that would more
nearly approach a "Utopian College" than the institutions fostered
by others.
The Daughters of Men
While there is still interest in the election of Ruth Bryan
Owen and Ruth Hanna McCormick, word comes from England
of the return to the House of Commons of the daughter of
David Lloyd George, also of Nancy Astor, the first woman
elected to the British Parliament. The real surprise, however,
is the choise of Margaret Bondfield to fill a place in the Mac-
Donald cabinet, as minister of labor. Of interest, too, is the selec-
tion of Miss Susan Lawrence, minister of health, in the new British
Cabinet.
One reason, perhaps, why sons have been preferred to
EDITORIAL 417
daughters, lies in the fact that a son often succeeds his father in
business, or brings to a family the honor of place and office —
a privilege but recently accorded to women. The strides that
women have made, both in America and Great Britain, go to
show that no father's or mother's hopes need be blasted be-
cause of the advent of daughters. The presence of one hundred
and forty-five women in the various legislatures of the United
States in 1929, and of seven women in Congress, as well as
the election of thirteen women to the British Parliament,
has a tendency for the moment, to attract attention to the
daughters of men.
Were the Great Commoner alive, he undoubtedly would
feel genuine pride in the election of his daughter to Congress.
Were Mark Hanna yet with us, he would be assured that
the American people, while recognizing the deserts of the
daughter, had not forgotten the father. David Lloyd George,
Premier of Great Britain at the time of the Great War, like
Woodrow Wilson and Clemenceau, suffered something of
an eclipse. Now, he is returned to Parliament with his daugh-
ter and his son. He probably is as deeply affected and as
keenly grateful for the election of his daughter as for that of
his son.
The world of politics has its surprises no less than the
world of invention.
The Children's Vacation Hour
Once again the Relief Society puts forth its benevolent
hand on behalf of children who would otherwise be denied the
benefits of a holiday. The Social Service Department, under
the direction of Mrs. Amy Brown Lyman, director, and Miss
Genevieve Thornton, supervisor, has arranged for sixty children
to have a vacation in the beautiful country districts of Cache
Valley. These children range in age from five to fourteen years,
and have been selected because of the need they have for outdoor
contacts.
It is now several years since the Relief Society began
this very fruitful type of social work. It emphasizes once
more the spirit of our age, which says that children must
receive consideration — in many instances, the first considera-
tion— because this ever-growing, ever-blossoming, surging
civilization of which we are a part can only be pushed for-
ward and sustained by persons of good health, good brains,
wholesome impulses, and good training. These are some of
the ideals the Relief Society has in bringing out from the
corners the child whose life would be denied these pleasures.
418 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
These children who are to partake of the wholesome milk,
fruit, and vegetables of the farm will be cared for by families
in the Benson Stake. This work is being supervised by Mrs.
Eflie A. Greene, who is president of the Benson Stake Relief
Society. The funds for the outing were raised by Salt Lake
stake Relief Societies, cooperating with the General Board.
In line with this work, thirty-two children were taken
to the Christmas Seal Camp of the Utah Tuberculosis Asso-
ciation near Brighton, where they will spend six weeks en-
joying outdoor pleasures and where they will be carefully su-
pervised as to their needs for exercise and food. They have as
their chaperones a nurse and two teachers. These children,
many of whom are frail and need selected food because they are
undernourished, will be under the constant care and guidance of
the nurse, Miss Margaret Ford, and the two teachers, Miss
Margaret Sorenson and Miss Alouise Nelson.
This means that practically 100 children will be made
glad and will be beneficiaries of better health because of the
vision of the Relief Society and the Utah Tuberculosis Asso-
ciation.
The Desert
By Mrs. George Q. Rick
A wild Palm here
And a Cactus there,
Scrub Mesquite,
A bone white and bare,
Sun beating down
On sand hot and dry,
Not a cloud to be seen
In the clear blue sky.
A lizard crawls out
From its resting place;
No chirp of a bird
In the whole wide space.
Looking as far
As the eye can see —
Mesquite, wild Palms
And the Cactus tree.
The Bible: The Inspiration of
Mankind
By Mrs. Bessie Redding
Search the Scriptures
We are bidden (John 5 :39) to "Search the Scriptures, for
in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they that
testify of me." Here we have the command. We are not left in
doubt. The reason is plainly stated.
By reading the Scriptures: (1) we obey the command of
authority; (2) we are shown the way that leads to eternal life;
(3) we gain individual testimonies of the divinity of Jesus
Christ.
I shall answer the question, what is the Bible? from four
standpoints :
I. The Bible is the word of God.
II. It is the greatest book of literature.
III. It is the source of inspiration for writers, poets, preachers.
IV. It is the only book to which Christians have turned for
comfort, wisdom and guidance.
The Word of God
Moses wrote the law and gave it to the sons of Levi, com-
manding them to fear God and to obey the commandments
written in the Ark of the Covenant. In Deuteronomy 17, 18,
20, the Priests of Levi are again commanded to keep the com-
mandments of that book.
The book of Mormon, in First Nephi, states that the Bible
is of divine origin.
Tradition gives evidence of the divinity of the Bible. It is
our religious heritage handed down from Father Adam, from
one generation to another.
We Latter-day Saints believe in the Bible. We take it
literally as a divine record of God's dealing with his people.
As the firmaments declare the handiwork of God, so the
Bible declares itself to be his word.
The Book of Literature
That the Bible is the greatest book of literature, the most
able literary scholars concede. Not even Shakespeare, the
literary genius of the ages, could surpass the Bible in real art.
No masterpiece, however great, has excelled the Bible in grace,
in stateliness, in simplicity of construction. Even Ruskin,
whose well poised diction and well balanced sentences are the
420 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
admiration of the shrewdest critic, could not surpass the Bible
in literary excellence.
In this remarkable volume we find the best examples of
the four types of English composition — description, narration,
exposition, and argumentation.
No other descriptions are more graphic, more illuminated,
than some of the scenes in the Bible. Here one may visit,
with the mind's eye, the Garden of Eden, home of our first
parents ; or look over the consecrated City of Enoch, or view
the Egyptian courts, the home of the pharaohs ; or climb up
Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments; or
step over to Mt. Ararat, where Noah's Ark landed ; or he may
view the waters of the Red Sea divided for the children of
Israel to come safely from their Egyptian bondage ; or behold
the sun stand still for Joshua to conquer the enemy — to say
nothing of visiting the Holy Land and looking upon the sacred
ground whereon the Savior trod, His birthplace and other scenes
dear to the hearts of Christians.
For one brief moment we shall tarry at the Garden of
Gethsemane and view the scene recorded by Luke. Here we
stand awe-inspired, with abated breath. We behold the Sav-
ior kneeling — one God praying to another — the sublimest prayer
ever uttered on earth. The substance of that magnificent
appeal, which transcends anything else ever recorded was,
"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me : Never-
theless, not my will, but thine be done."
The Most Vivid Pictures
Then comes the greatest scene ever described in this
world's drama. No word in any language is adequate to
portray its full significance. The stone is rolled away! Christ
the Lord is risen ! The glorious Resurrection Day !
Here we may behold with Mary Magdalene and the
Apostles, our Lord and Master who has broken the bonds of
death. These precious scenes, these splendid descriptions, are
ours if we read the Scriptures.
There are no other narratives so thrilling as those con-
tained in the Bible. The fascinating love story of Ruth and
her devotion to her mother-in-law ; the patriotism of Esther ;
the womanliness of Vashti ; the loyalty of Samuel and David ; the
beauty and spirituality of Rebecca ; the long and persistent wooing
of Jacob for the lovely Rachel, mother of Joseph, and the sto-
ries of heroism and achievement of other courageous characters.
The Best of Literary Arts
The best example we have of exposition is found in the
parables and other teachings of the Savior and of the Apostles,
THE BIBLE: THE INSPIRATION OF MANKIND All
and of former leaders. Nowhere is there a better code of
ethics than that given by Moses in the Ten Commandments.
Infidels, atheists, and other non-conformists concede this.
In all literature there is no better example of argumenta-
tion than that of Paul's defense before Agrippa.
As another example of argumentation, consider Reuben's
plea for the return of his young brother Benjamin from the
Egyptian court to the grief stricken father, Jacob.
The Inspiration of Poets
Dante, the Italian scholar, could not have written his "Divine
Comedy" had he not been a student of the Bible.
Milton chose Isaiah's Fall of Lucifer for the theme of his
immortal epic, "Paradise Lost."
Shakespeare's remarkable versatility is directly traceable
to his knowledge of Bible literature.
It is natural to suppose that Wordsworth's knowledge of
the Scriptures led him to write of our pre-existent state. From
his "Intimations of Immortality" we have this thought :
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us — our life's star —
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home."
Plato could not have contributed to society his treatise on
the "Immortality of the Soul" had he not been conversant
with Bible literature.
The Guide of Patriots
The influence of the Bible is evident in the life and works
of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, containing these memorable words : "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are in-
stituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con-
sent of t^he governed."
We see the influence of the Bible in the life and writings
of Washington. Lincoln, the great emancipator, was a living
example of a life towering in splendor, from faith in the
Bible as the divine word of God.
The Bible was the source of inspiration, the pillar of
422 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
strength to President Wilson as he piloted this nation safely
through one of the most perilous periods in its history.
Many of his writings are masterpieces, partly because of
his undaunted faith in the Bible as God's word.
The Creator of World-Visions
Most of the poetry worthy of survival has been inspired
and fashioned from the lofty sentiments recorded in Holy
Writ. In this age of economic strife and rapidly changing
social order, when many of life's standards are measured by
the dollar mark, our poets are called dreamers. The work-a-
day, practical world would thus stigmatize the poet ; but
are not all the world's achievers dreamers? Architects, sculp-
tors, prophets, sages — all are dreamers. Poets are prophets,
getting their inspiration from the word of God. Tennyson
was inspired to see the vision written in Locksley Hall, in
1848. He says:
"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw a vision of the world and all the wonders that would be;
Saw the heavens filled with commerce, argosies of magic
sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales.
Till the war drums throbbed no longer and the battle flags
were furled
In the parliament of man, the federation of the world,
Here the common sense of most, shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber lapt in universal law."
Prophets of old had seen this vision. Joseph the Seer
viewed it; the city of Enoch no doubt lived it. And do not we
Latter-day Saints believe there will be a time of world-peace,
a millenium? The poet Tennyson saw our time, and even
farther into the future when the earth will receive its paradisai-
cal glory and will enter into its rest — its Sabbath — "lapt in
universal law." This sublime thought, clothed in poetic lan-
guage, symbolizes a truth found in the Bible..
The Prompter of Poets
Orson F. Whitney tells us that the Savior was our great-
est poet, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is one vast poem from
beginning to end.
As far back as Pope, poets have used this thought from the
Bible:
"O Death, where is thy sting?
O Grave, where is thy victory?"
THE BIBLE: THE INSPIRATION OF MANKIND 423
Longfellow's faith in the Bible was beautiful. His poems
breathe his trust in the hereafter. Note these words from his
"Resignation."
"There is no Death,
What seems so is transition."
Tennyson was inspired to create such sentiment as is
found in his touching lyric, "Crossing the Bar."
Whittier, the Quaker poet, was a constant reader of the
Bible; we see the influence of this Book in his poetry:
"Life is ever Lord of death, and love shall never lose its own."
Poets in our Church have voiced some of the loftiest
sentiment from the Bible. The poem "Elias" made Orson
F. Whitney famous; and Eliza R. Snow's hymn,"0 My
Father", has enshrined her name among the immortals. It
is a beautiful picture of Bible teachings past, present, and
future.
The Guide of Seekers After God
Christianity was deprived of the Priesthood for centu-
ries, but the Bible still proved such an anchor of Christendom
throughout the Dark Ages that the accomplishments were
wonderful. The^y builded better than they knew. Nations,
kingdoms, principalities, came and went. What gave them
such impetus, such stimuli? Their implicit faith in the Bible,
which sufficed to bring humanity through a long period of
darkness.
An illustrious example is seen in the life of the late
William Jennings Bryan, his profound studies of the Bible
accounting for his own clean life and the wholesome influ-
ence he exerted on the lives of thousands.
Henry Van Dyke, a Bible student whose writings are
inspiring and wholesome, puts his philosophy into these lines :
"Four things a man must learn to do
If he would keep his record true :
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellowmen sincerely,
To act with honest motives purely,
To trust in God and heaven securely."
Where is there another book that has brought comfort
to the grief-stricken, wisdom to the searcher after truth, or
spiritual guidance to the masses? "Oh, what sweet joy this
sentence gives : I know that my Redeemer lives."
Who cannot be wise if he hearken to the Psalms, the
Songs of Solomon, the Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes? "Wisdom
424 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; but with all
thy getting, get understanding."
Even he who denies the existence of God, when facing
imminent danger or death, turns to the Bible. Criminals,
with a vain attempt at death-bed repentance, call for the Bible.
If there had been no Bible, where could the boy Joseph
have found inspiration to prompt him to seek the Lord in
prayer? Where did he get the inspiration that sent him to
his knees before his God? He read James, first chapter,
fifth verse : "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
* * * and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering." So with implicit faith, the faith of a
child, the boy asked, and "God, that giveth to all m^n
liberally, and upbraideth not," gave freely; and we are bene-
ficiaries of that gift.
Benediction
By Mary Anderson
Methinks the loveliest hour of all
Is the magic hour when twilight falls.
Life's petty cares are all effaced ;
The world stands still a little space,
Receiving benediction.
The sunset sky with rose is flushed,
The feathered minstrel's song is hushed,
And flowers in their garden beds
Their petals fold and droop their heads,
Receiving benediction.
And little children, ere repose
Shall over-tired, white eyelids close,
All kneel beside a mother's chair,
And for their loved ones ask, in prayer,
A Father's benediction.
May we, when our last sunset glows,
Before we seek a last repose,
Look back upon a life so spent
That we may ask, with confidence,
A final benediction.
What Bird is That?
How to Identify at Sight the Birds to be Seen This Month
near the Mouth of any Western Canyon.
By J. H. Paul, University of Utah
"What bird is that?" Of the questions asked by mem-
bers of hiking or camping parties in the West, this seems the
most frequent, especially by strangers. For in the East, most
people know the birds. The East is well wooded, and the
birds, secure in hiding places among the foliage, are not
compelled, as Western species are, to keep at safe distances.
Our lack of vegetation, the rarefied air that renders the
birds more clearly visible at long range, the greater watch-
fulness that the perils of open or desert-like regions require
because of the more intense struggle for life here, added to
the fact that Western birds, not yet well acquainted with man,
have learned both to fear and avoid him — all these conditions
cause our birds to be more watchful and retiring than East-
ern species. Hence, to study our birds, a field glass is
necessary and the aid of a nature guide desirable. Bird study
pays well in new knowledge and rare enjoyment, as well as
in the prestige among her children and other young people
that bird knowledge gives to mothers.
>
Girl Leaders at Lakota
A few weeks ago a large party — leaders of Mutual girls
in Bear Lake stake — met at Lakota, the Mutual home, for a
nature hike. To the shore of the lake near Garden City they
came from all over the county, one group after another, till
some forty people had arrived — young ladies, many mothers,
and a few grandmothers. The leader was Mrs. Welker.
tjer husband, Elder Roy A. Welker, president of the stake,
Elder E. M. Pugmire, and other men were present, not merely
as aids and advisers, but as enthusiastic investigators of
nature. By their watchfulness, attention, business-like attitude,
and sensible questions on the topic in hand, this fine group first
aroused, then constantly deepened, the appreciation of the
nature guide.
Siskin, Goldfinch, Bluebird
The weather was just right — cool, with a little rain and a
few flakes of snow, making coats necessary as the party started
up the canyon that begins within a stone's throw from the
426 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Mutual building ; but a pine siskin, alighting on a wire near the
home, began his long, twittering melody, detaining every one
to get a look at the dainty little singer in russet brown. There
this urchin of the air lingered under inspection, as six pairs of
field glasses were handed round. Singing away, he kept on till
his cousin the goldfinch, brilliant yellow with black evening-
suit besides, floated near, displaying his golden form to fine
advantage. He did not sing, the backward season no doubt
discouraging him, though in ordinary Junes he is singing
brilliantly.
A pair of bluebirds, gliding near, flitted from post to post.
Posing with dignified grace, they gave us to understand that
while they live among us they are not of us, but belong to a
superior race. The male was deep blue, the female grayish blue.
They did not sing, but swept about us in the flowing curves
made only by the strongest, easiest fliers. After thus greeting
our party with a few pleasant "churrs," they circled higher and
left for their chosen haunts, the nearby hills.
Swallows: the Four Kinds
Far overhead swallows, floating like specks in the sky,
presently came near. One was seen to have the long, two-
forked tail ; it was the barn swallow, the two plumes of the
long tail being the readiest mark of identification. And there,
scarcely a rod from our heads, in the gable of the house, was
the nest, which, after endless aerial evolutions, they approach-
ed, faintly twittering.
"Note the swallows with the white breasts," advised the
Guide. "Those that show also a tuft of white on each side of
the tail are the Northern violet-green swallows, the handsom-
est of American species, being parrot-green and violet above."
Observers soon made out the white tail-indicators, learning for
the first time that they had long known the handsome creature,
but had never before looked at it closely.
The other swallows with white underparts, the Guide ex-
plained, "are tree swallows, which delight to fly just above the
water surface. They are glossy blue above and lack the white
patches always shown by the violet-greens at the base of the
tail.
"Those swallows with whitish breasts crossed by a dark,
sooty band are sand martens, or bank swallows," the Guide
explained; "and with them is another species just like them
but without the conspicuous dark cloud on the breast. The
latter are called rough-winged swallows. Both build their
nests in holes, which they dig in the banks of streams or
chasms."
WHAT BIRD IS THAT? 427
"That swallow in reddish brown, like the barn swallow
but without the long tail feathers of the latter, is the cliff or
eave swallow — the species that builds nests of little balls o*
mud picked up in wet places and fastened to cliffs or under the
eaves of houses."
Before the advent of the English sparrow, every town in
America had its colonies of eave swallows. The imported
sparrow has driven them away — one of the reasons why the
sparrow should be destroyed (but only by scientific methods,
in winter).
Purple martens, large, dark, bluish swallows, the Guide
added, "are to be found in the mountains, but are uncommon."
So great has been the diminution of their numbers in the
last thirty years that few localities now have swallows ; and in
the few places that still have them, the entire group is bujt
rarely represented.
Warbler, Song Sparrow, Vireo
Then began the slow saunter up the wooded canyon, down
which comes a large stream of clear, cold water. "Tsweet,
tsweet, tsee." sang the yellow warbler from the trees — the only
one of our birds that is yellow all over. The belted kingfisher
sounded his rattle along the stream. He is crested, big-billed
and bluish, brown and white. He kept out of sight, but was
seen next morning by those who were "up betimes." Song
sparrows sang delightfully their "Maids, maids, maids, hang
on your teakettle — ettle — ettle," as Thoreau translates their
tinkling melodies. Brown spots on the ashy breast readily
identify them.
Then the vireos — ever heard but never seen — how they
made us long to get a glimpse of them ! Like fairy elves they
sing continuously from the tree tops, saying always, "A warb-
ling vireo singing! A warbling vireo singing!"
"Well, we know you're a warbling vireo singing," exclaim-
ed one of the party ; "but where are you hiding, you dainty bit
of music?"
We sought him in vain, but we found him not. At last
we all gave up and went on — all but one. The President's
blood was up. Determined to find the vireo, he loitered till,
to his unbounded satisfaction, he viewed the tiny bit of green
and gray perched and singing cheerily amid the leaves of the
tall lance-leaf cottonwood. Next day, however, on the return
from the Lake, the entire company found the vireo ; for it sang
repeatedly from the same tree till at last we located it, on its
nest, singing as it brooded there. To sing on the nest is [a
way of the vireo and of the black-headed grosbeak, whose
song we heard from afar.
428 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Dove, Bunting, Marsh Hawk
Mourning doves went by in pairs, on whistling wings, or
cooed from tree and hillside ; the songs of robins were incessant
and rather melodious; the little lazuli buntings sang througn
the trees, the company trying to distinguish their notes from
those of the yellow warblers ; but it was next day before bunt-
ings were observed, beautiful in their sextet of colors — blue,
buff, white, black, brown, gray.
Marsh hawks soared above mountain and valley, and a
Cooper or real chicken hawk swept past. Magpies did their
bit with a few clattering cries, as did also, from a distance, a
long-crested jay, which, however, was not observed. We have
seven jays, none of them being the blue jay.
Pee Wee, Tanager, Towhee, Chickadee
Wood pewees, calling their name, "pee-wee," flitted about
the high tree tops, returning always to the same perch after
picking up a flying insect in the air. Tanagers, gorgeous in
lemon yellow, black, and crimson, were observed on the second
hike. Arctic towhees sang to us, though we saw none of them ;
they kept to the ground among the bushes, scratching for an
honest living, as is their wont. They are 9 inches long, and
brown, black and white. Long-tailed chickadees were there,
busily engaged in saving the trees. Clinging underneath the
boughs and calling their names, also giving the long whistle,
"Phae-dee-dee," little flocks, they flitted quickly in among the
boughs.
Blackbirds, Pelican, Sandpiper, Killdeer
Next morning, in the cool air and the glow of the sun
rising through white clouds, we went out before breakfast
and walked along the shore, which was alive with bird life.
Swaying and singing on bending stems were three species
of blackbird — the redwing, the yellowhead, and the all-black
Brewer, blue-glossed and white-eyed. All three species were
frequent among the reeds and rushes or flying overhead, intent-
ly busy at finding insect food for their young. The fourth,
the cowbird, smaller and with a brown head, we did not see.
Here again swallows abounded ; and out in the water a
line of stately pelicans were seen fishing to fill their stomachs
(not their pouches) with fish to be carried to Bird Island in
the Great Salt Lake — the food preferred by their unfledged
flocks.
Spotted sandpipers flew about, alighting on rocks and
sandbars, then teetering and bowing in comical fashion, as
they called out "Peet-weet" and explored the shallows for their
WHAT BIRD IS THAT? 429
insect food. Killdeers filled the air with their cries; and we all
but stepped on a killdeer nest — a mere depression in the earth,
lined with a few bits of grass and containing three large,
blotched eggs, the narrow ends pointing inwards. Two days
later, when the Boy Scout leaders also found this nest and
three others right near it, each contained four eggs, the usual
number in the clutch.
The Larger Shorebirds
Out in the lake, an occasional great blue heron could be
seen standing in the shallow water near shore, or a bittern
would wing slowly over the water surface. A few willets
flew past one party, calling out, "Pill-will-willet ;" and birds
that may have been avocets and glossy ibis were seen in the
distance. Snowy herons were observed far out on the water ;
and the writer learned of the marvelous colonies of water and
shore birds breeding on Mud Island in the northern part of the
lake, but had no time to visit them.
The Shadows
By Alberta H. Christensen
I like shadows ; shadows that mock the heat
Of August's noon
And lure the weary traveler to sleep.
All too soon
The dusk of evening chases them away.
I like the playful, transient shadowlets
Capricious breeze
Forms on the grass where sunrays slip
Between the leaves.
But sweeter far the moonlit images,
Too frail to last,
Like memories that haunt
Or bless the past.
WITHDRAWAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Since the announcement of the contest,
offering prizes in drama and in opera, pub-
lished in the July issue of the Magazine, cir-
cumstances have arisen which make it ad-
visable for the General Board of the Relief
Society to withdraw the offer made. As a
result the announcement in the July Maga-
zine becomes void.
Eliza R. Snow Memorial Poem Contest
Announcement, 1929
This memorial shall be known as the Eliza Roxey Snow
Prize Memorial Poem, and shall be awarded by the Relief
Society annuallys
Rules of the Contest
1. This contest is open to all Latter-day Saint women,
but only one poem may be submitted by each contestant.
Two prizes will be awarded, a first prize consisting of $20, and
a second prize consisting of $10.
2. The poem should not exceed fifty lines, and should be
typewritten, if possible; where this cannot be done, it should
be legibly written, and should be without signature or other
identifying marks.
3. Only one side of the paper should be used.
4. Each contestant guarantees the poem submitted to be
her original work, that it has never been published, that it
is not now in the hands of any editor, or other person, with
a view of publication, and that it will not be published nor
submitted for publication until the contest is decided.
5. Each poem must be accompanied with a stamped
envelope, on which should be written the contestant's name
and address. Non de plumes should not be used.
6. No member of the General Board, nor persons con-
nected with the office force of the Relief Society, shall be
eligible to this contest.
7. Persons who have received both the first and the second
prize must wait three years before they are again eligible to enter
the contest.
8. The judges shall consist of one member of the Gen-
eral Board, one person selected from the English department
of a reputable educational institution, and one from among the
group of persons who are recognized as writers.
9. The poem must be submitted not later than October
15, 1929.
The prize poems will be published each year in the
January issue of the Relief Society Magazine. Other poems of
merit, not winning special awards, will receive honorable men-
tion ; the editors claiming the right to publish any poems sub-
mitted, the published poems to be paid for at the regular
Magazine rates.
All entries should be sent to Alice L. Reynolds, Editor,
Relief Society Magazine, 20 Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City,
Utah, not later than October 15,
Through Clouds to Sunshine
By Sophy Valentine
One evening in May, when twilight was falling over the
landscape, Ellen Saunders stood by the gate that separated her
little world from the dug-way and what lay beyond it.
In front of her streched the valley with its patchwork of
wheat and corn fields; newly planted tomato rows; acres of
sugar beets, thick and thrifty, ready to be thinned; here and
there a brown gray bit of fallow and a corner patch of potatoes.
Farther away, showing darkly green against the evening
sky, were waving peach and cherry orchards. Close behind
her rose the eternal granite wall of Rockies in their dark,
mysterious majesty. Still closer was the ravine, filled with
rocks and boulders, and then the sagebrush-covered stretch, all
inclosed in her own little ten-acre farm.
To the west lay her five-acre piece of lucern land, with its
sweet-scented blossoms softly swaying in the evening breeze.
Over it, as far as the eye could see, the afterglow painted the
sky a thousand beautiful tints.
And to the east! — to the east lay what had been Ellen's
pride and prize possession, her one-acre strawberry patch.
Have you ever owned a strawberry patch? One from
which you have hauled every rock on a wheelbarrow, plowed
every inch with an old worn-out plow and a ditto old nag ;
harrowed it with a borrowed harrow because you could not
afford to own one yourself? And then, at last, set out in long
even rows your young healthy plants, and tenderly tended,
hoed, and watered them month after month in the season
thereof, and finally picked the luscious fruit ready for the
market? If you haven't, Ellen would tell you that you have
missed half your life.
But Ellen's face is drawn and worried ; her eyes are
eagerly, anxiously scouting far along the road toward the town,
and her ears are atune to every sound that rises on the still air.
She is aroused by a meadowlark, who sends his happy
notes skyward. She starts, turns, and with heavy masculine
tread goes to shut up her chickens. On the way back to her
observation post, she passes the little adobe house, with its
creeping vines, and walks slowly, reluctantly, over to the berry
patch.
There she stops and, with folded arms and grief-filled eyes,
contemplates, as it were, every well-rounded hill and vine,
now heavy with buds and blossoms.
THROUGH CLOUDS TO SUNSHINE 433
A sob-like sigh escapes from the overloaded heart and
she finally tears herself away and walks toward the gate.
From thrifty old habit she picks up a stone in her path, weighs
it in her hand undecidedly ; a malicious gleam shoots into her
eyes and with a swift, strong stroke she hurls it into the
berry patch. With rising anger she searches the ground for
another; and then, as if ashamed, hesitates and drops down on
a nearby tree stump, where she buries her face in her hands,
resting elbows on knees, and sobs out her anger and grief.
After a little the storm has spent itself and she dries her
tears with the old, rough string apron. Night is settling over
the valley. Mysterious shadows come out. Down from the
foothills, where he daily finds his food, comes old Buck, stops
at the stable door a while, and then shuffles awkwardly over to
the gate, where his mistress is again at her post. He, too,
seems sorrow-laden, or perhaps it is just old age that weighs
him down. He noses about her elbow ; and, absently, Ellen
picks up the dragging halter-rope and leads him to the stable,
where already Mirandy lies chewing her cud in stupid con-
tentment. Then she takes up her waiting and watching once
more.
Finally there's a familiar sound in the distance — halting
footsteps. Tom, at last. Tom is her 18-year old son, the apple
of her eye, the pivot on which her universe turns.
But Tom is a cripple and a weakling; he has a "bad hip,"
left him from a protracted case of scarlet fever when he was
four years old.
Ellen goes hurriedly out to meet him,. With an effort
she endeavors to keep her voice natural.
"What makes you so late, Tom?"
"Oh, we had some trouble; Al's Liz went on the blink and
we had to hoof it most of the way home. We left the oldl
bug at Pete's store, so you see we had quite a tramp of it."
"And— and?"
"Yes, Ma, its just as we've known all along — the survey
was bunk and it was no use hoping that the papers would show
anything different. We'll have to look for our land up in the
foothills ; among the boulders and sagebrush. You knew it all
before, Ma; the berry patch is his — its no use whining."
Yes, Ellen knew. It had been explained to her, in techni-
cal terms, time and again, that there had been a wrong survey
made and that when she had bought the ten-acre farm eight
years ago, the former owner had sold it to her in good faith,
no one suspecting any trouble till the previous fall. Then her
neighbor on the east, Fred Bowen, had taken it into his head
to have his farm surveyed and it was discovered that his land
took in two acres of what Ellen supposed was hers, including
434 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
•
her precious berry patch. Her own plot of ground took in only
the ravine and two acres of sagebrush-covered ground stretch-
ing above that.
It had come as an awful blow when it was first made
known to her, and Ellen refused to believe it. But the county
surveyor had been out and it was all certified ; today the papers
had been handed to Tom, that plat so and so, covering the
ravine and two acres above it, together with five acres of
lucern land, etc., belonged to Mrs. Ellen Saunders.
Mother and son went into the house. With shaking hands
Ellen brought down the kerosene lamp from its shelf. Light-
ing it she set out Tom's supper of bread and milk on the oil
cloth covered table, in silence.
Tom ate his supper, also in silence, while his mother
studied the papers. Off and on a vengeful expletive escaped
her.
At length she folded the papers with a deep sigh and rose to
her feet. She rested both toil-hardened hands on the table
and stared stonily into vacancy.
"There ain't no justice and there ain't no kind God, Tom,"
she said at length.
"I know its tough, Ma ! It seems a shame you should lose
out. But, I dunno — maybe it'll come out all right."
"How can it come out right, when its all wrong, you loony
boy!" she snapped.
Tom had finished his supper; pushing the dish away,
and leaning his elbow on the table, he cleared his throat once
or twice.
"Well," he began, "I been thinking a whole lot lately, since
all this crazy business begun ; and I've been looking at the
dirt above the gully; its good stuff. And I'm going to clear
it — grub out the stage and haul off the rocks."
Ellen turned in amazement. "You?" incredulously.
"Yes, me! I've tinkered around doing nothing long
enough. And maybe we've got just what was coming to us —
me for being so no-account and you for humoring me." He
looked accusingly at his mother.
"Well ! Trouble never comes single-handed, I've hearn !
You know you ain't able to do it with yer lame leg and — "
"Yeah, I've heard that tommy-rot so often; but I'm going
to try ; that's all."
Ellen got but little sleep that night; she lay tossing and
thinking. She knew now that there was no use hoping any
more. The bottom seemed to have dropped out of everything.
Her years of hard work had come to nothing. She couldn't do
it all over again, she was well on the other side of fifty. Tom's
talk of clearing the ground above the gully was all bunk; he
THROUGH CLOUDS TO SUNSHINE 435
hadn't the strength, poor kid; he might be willing enough.
Talk about a kind Providence! Huh! Hadn't she had her
share of troubles? Widowed since Tom was a baby, and Tom,
her only child, a cripple! No, they needn't come to her and
talk.
The Relief Society teachers came and tried to comfort her,
offered what help was in their power. Ellen wanted no help
from them. They tried to make her feel that all would work
out for her good. She snorted. If there was justice in any-
thing, she would like to be shown; they need not waste their
sympathy on her; she wanted none of it.
The summer passed. In the pride and hardness of her
heart, Ellen refused to pick the berries when they ripened, as
her neighbor urged her to do. She flung in his teeth that since
he had stolen her land, he could have it all. Fred Bowen was
a fair-minded man, who was willing to deal justly with her.
But Ellen spurned his offers. He had his own children pick
her berries, sold them, and keeping out only the price paid to
the pickers, he paid the money to Tom, who gladly received
it and put it in the bank.
For fear of meeting her obnoxious neighbors, Ellen ceased
going to her meetings and retired into her own hard shell,
growing more bitter as time went on.
Tom was as good as his word. He worked late and early
having many a hard tussle with the stubborn sagebrush and
the heavy rocks. In the beginning, he nearly collapsed and
had to lie down often, flat on the ground, and groan and pant,
almost shedding tears of exhaustion. He never complained.
His mother saw but made no comment. The boy would likely
work himself to death. Where was the difference? Why
should not her only bit of comfort be taken from her?
Neighbor Bowen came over and cut Tom's lucern and
Tom was more and more taking the responsibility of the little
farm. Ellen wondered but said nothing. His appetite increas-
ed amazingly and he grew brown as an Indian.
Fall came; the taxes were paid, and Tom and old Buck
brought down the winter's supply of wood from the mountains.
He had cleared nearly an acre of ground single-handed.
A new light had come into his eyes ; he was growing,
taller and broader. Ellen grimly suppressed a smile the day
she saw him lift the old plow into the wagon. "He couldn't
have done that last spring," she mused.
They had a couple of favorable fall months with plenty
of moisture and warm weather. Tom plowed the ground he
had cleared. It was hard work ; there were lots of deep-rooted
stumps and he shook his head many times as he wiped the
perspiration from his face and neck.
436 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Tom and the neighbor had many friendly consultations
over the fence. The fence had been moved. Ellen saw this
friendly intercourse and objected strenuously.
"What you havm' all them long confabs with that land-
thief for?" she wanted to know. "I don't like it and I want
you to stop it!"
"Yes, but I ain't going to, and he ain't no land-thief.
The land's his."
"Well, for the Ian' sakes !" Tom dared to defy her. Ellen
kept silent from the sheer amazement that stirred so peculiarly
within her. Tom had grown up.
One day, about the middle of January, Tom had gone over
to the neighbor's and was gone a long time. Ellen couldn't
imagine what was in the wind. After a while he came back
bearing a bushel basket tightly covered. He came in flushed
and smiling.
"Do you want to see something pretty, Ma? Then come
out."
Ellen eyed the basket apprehensively and with disfavor.
Tom uncovered it and showed three fine young turkeys, two
hens and a gobbler. Ellen knew the neighbors kept turkeys
and had often wished she could get a start.
"Well, what you goin' to do with them?" bruskly.
"Going to raise turkeys, and this is the start. Ered
Bowen's made me a present of 'em; they're worth a good b'iti
of money. There's money in turkeys, and up here among the
boulders under the mountains is just the place for them.
They'll roost in the old poplars summer and winter and they
can almpst find their own feed all summer; in the fall, of
course,, is the time it'll take something to fatten 'em up for
the holidays."
"Oh, I see; the old rascal knows he's done wrong and
now he's going to try to make up for it," she blurted wrath-
fully; "but I won't have 'em on my place, them nor nothin'
of hisn's." She strode away in anger; but Tom took no notice.
They had what the old settlers called an open winter that
year, and Tom kept busy, digging post holes for a fence around
the land he had cleared. He had bargained for a lot of cedar
posts and in the spring he hoped to be able to get the wire.
Off and on of an evening he would disappear without
saying where he was going, but Ellen had her suspicions and
sat nursing her resentment till his return.
In February the turkeys began to lay. Ellen began to
take an interest. She turned the big, fine eggs daily till the
latter part of March, when both turkey hens were set on 20
eggs each. In due time they came off with 16 and 18 chicks
respectively. Ellen's interest grew.
THROUGH CLOUDS TO SUNSHINE 437
Spring came early that year. Tom plowed and harrowed
the land he had cleared, and his mother helped him set out the
young strawberry plants from her own old patch.
In early July the turkey hens set again and came off with
a brood of 37 between them. Ellen's old chicken coop had been
thoroughly disinfected and her chickens disposed of.
They seemed to have good success with their turkeys.
The early birds were sold at Thanksgiving; the later ones at
Christmas time. My, what busy times! They sold about 55
altogether, at an average of $4 a piece; kept some, of course,
for the next year's crop.
Another winter, which was long and rather cold ; but Tom
kept busy every day, tending the turkeys, hauling rock, when
that was possible, for a coop of bigger dimensions. Evenings
found him busy doing Church work; he was seldom at home,
but his mother had ceased to harbor any resentment about it.
seeing, perhaps, the futility of objecting further.
Spring came again — came with a bound and a wealth of
promises for the inmates of the little adobe house. This year
they would be able to harvest quite a crop of berries. Tom
had bought a new horse and was contemplating getting a new
wagon. The turkey business was growing.
Ellen marveled at Tom. Was this the listless weakling
she, like a silly old hen, had clucked to all these years ? He had
grown in height, in breadth ; the limp was scarecly noticeable.
The face too, once so thin, had grown strong. He looked
self-reliant and every inch a man.
One Sunday afternoon in late September Ellen, seated
once more on the old tree stump, viewed with inward pride
her domain — Tom's farm she called it. Over to the east, near
the old berry patch, which now laid in rows of sugar beets,
Tom had cleared a piece of ground and was laying the founda-
tion of what he called their new house. But Ellen nodded her
head significantly. Nobody needed to tell her that she was
ever going to live in that. Not she ! She could see through a
millstone as far as most people. It wasn't for nothing that he
and Bertha Bowen rambled the side hills in the twilight.
But then, what of it? She wouldn't leave her little old house
any way, and maybe it'd be all right.
She "guessed them Bowen people was a pretty fine fam-
ily." How she hated to admit it.
A meadowlark sent up his glad song to heaven. Ellen
looked up. The beautiful, fleecy clouds were tinted pink by
the fiery afterglow in the west. How delicate and unfathom-
able they seemed as she gazed at them drifting slowly over
behind the mountains, where they took on more somber colors.
Just then came the strains from Tom's old accordian and a
438 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
minute later his voice rose in accompaniment to an old favorite
tune of Ellen's. Tom played but indifferently and couldn't
sing at all, as he himself would tell you; but the pleasing"
sound that floated out on the early evening air was like heav-
enly music in Ellen's ears, as the last bit of ice that had coated
her heart melted away in warm tears flowing down furrowed
old cheeks. She had to whisper to herself, "Yes, there is a
good, kind Father up there."
Teach Me
By Arthur James Bowers
O God of the cold, gray dawning,
O God of the wide, green sea,
Teach me the language of nature ;
Teach this to me —
The silence of sleeping waters,
The hush of the starry skies,
The voice of the dewy morning,
As night birds cry.
The radiant sun at noon-day,
The waning moon of the night,
The stars of a velvet darkness
When they are bright.
Waves as they break on the shoreline,
Trees as they whine in a gale,
Birds as they sing in an early dawn
When skies are pale.
The thundering roar of a cataract,
The cry of a deer that is "done,"
And whimpering blasts of downy snow
When winter's come.
O God of the painted sunsets,
O God of the silent moon,
Teach me their songs, their voices,
Teach me their tune.
Let Martha Rest Sundays
By Ethel C. Butt
When the icicles are hanging from the eaves and the family
come shivering in with red noses and cold-whipped appetites, is
the time for steaming hot roasts, puddings, and spicy foods.
But in August let us have something cold or quickly cooked
for Sunday dinner ; something with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
What a relief it is to mother to feel free to don her Sunday
best, and march to Sunday School with the children, knowing that
in record time she can place a satisfying meal before her family.
Glance over the menus given below. Notice that they give
a variety of food, yet with the exception of the first dinner, most
of the food may be prepared on Saturday.
Dinner No. I
Broiled chicken New potatoes in parsley and butter
Baby beets Creamed peas
Raspberries and cream Wafers
Veal loaf with peas
Orange sherbet
Dinner No. II
Creamed new potatoes
String bean salad
Currant jelly
Oatmeal cookies
Cold sliced lamb
Corn on the cob
Apricot cream
Dinner No. Ill
Chili sauce
Sliced tomato salad with mayonnaise
Sponge cake
Dinner No. IV
Salmon in mould
Broiled tomatoes
Creamed carrots
Lettuce and cucumber salad
Peach shortcake
For Dinner No. I, the chicken should be cleaned on Saturday
and placed on ice. Cook the beets and cover with a syrup made
by adding 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon
juice to 1 cup of water. The peas may be shelled, washed, dried,
and put in a cold place, though many prefer to shell them the
day they are used.
Sunday morning, peel the potatoes and let them stand in cold
water. Wash and mince the parsley, and cover with cold, wet
440 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
cloth. Look over and wash raspberries. In forty minutes after
you return from Sunday School, your family can be eating
dinner ; for all that remains to be done is to broil the chicken for
20 or 30 minutes, (depending on its age), to cook the potatoes,
and make white sauce to combine with the cooked peas.
Dinner No. II can be almost all prepared on Saturday. Make
the salad dressing and the veal loaf. Cook the string beans.
Wash, separate, and wrap the lettuce with a wet cloth, ready
for the salad. The syrup for the sherbet is really better if it-
stands over night.
Sunday morning, mix the chilled cream and fruit juice for
the sherbet and freeze immediately, using 1 part salt to 3 parts ice.
Mix the beans with the salad dressing. Peel potatoes and let them
stand in cold water.
The preparations just before dinner are simple. While the
potatoes are cooking, the white sauce is made, and the salad
arranged on the lettuce leaves.
In like manner, Dinner No. Ill may mostly be made ready on
Saturday. The lamb is roasted, the mayonnaise dressing and
sponge cake made, and the foundation for the apricot cream pre-
pared. The lettuce, corn, and tomatoes may be cleaned and made
ready Sunday morning. Mixing and freezing the apricot cream
is usually a Sunday morning job, unless the freezer is very well
packed and a cold storage place is at hand.
The final preparations for this meal need not be longer than
is required to cook the corn, since all the other work except
setting the table, is arranging the salad and slicing the lamb.
The Saturday work for Dinner No. IV consists of preparing
the salmon in the mold and making the cake for the peach short-
cake. Sponge cake or regular butter cake may be used for this.
Sunday morning, the carrots should be prepared for cooking, and
the lettuce and tomatoes washed.
While the carrots and tomatoes are cooking, the white sauce
should be made, the salad arranged, the peaches peeled, and the
cream whipped for the shortcake.
Although most housewives know how to cook the dishes in-
cluded in the above menus, the following recipes may help :
Veal Loaf
Separate a knuckle of veal in pieces by sawing through the
bone. Wipe, put in kettle with one pound lean veal and one onion.
Cover with boiling water and cook slowly until veal is tender.
Drain, chop meat finely, add salt and pepper. Garnish bottom
of mold with cooked peas. Put in layer of meat, layer of peas, and
cover with remaining meat. Reduce liquor to one cupful and pour
over meat. Press and chill, turn on dish and garnish with
parsley. Serve with currant jelly.
LET MARTHA REST SUNDAYS 441
Orange Sherbet
ll/z cups sugar Juice of 2 oranges
1 quart thin cream, Juice of 1 lemon
or whole milk
Add sugar to orange and lemon juice. Let stand until sugar
is thoroughly dissolved. Chill cream, add syrup, then freeze.
Oatmeal Cookies
2/3 cup butter or other fat 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon each of nutmeg and
2 eggs cinnamon
l/2 cup milk 1 cup seeded raisins
2 cups pastry flour 2 cups rolled oats.
Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs, then milk and
rolled oats, then raisins. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices
together ; sift again, and add to first mixture. Drop by spoonfuls
on greased pan, and bake in hot oven.
Apricot Cream
V/2 cups apricot pulp Juice of 1 lemon
lx/2 cups granulated sugar 1 quart of thin cream
Pare and stone ripe apricots. Rub through strainer. Add
sugar and lemon juice. Let stand until sugar is all dissolved
(over night'if possible). Chill cream, and fruit syrup, and freeze.
Salmon in Mold
1 can salmon or 4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups cold cooked salmon Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs beaten well Juice of % lemon, or a little
V2 cup fine crumbs vinegar
Drain salmon, pick free from bones. Rub in bowl with silver
spoon and work in the butter. Beat crumbs into eggs, season,
and add to salmon. Steam in a buttered mold (granite, earthen,
or aluminum). Let stand until cold. Slice thin. Garnish with
half slices of lemon.
Broiled Tomatoes
Select firm, smooth, ripe tomatoes. Wipe them and cut out the
hard center around the stem ends, then cut in halves, crosswise.
Dip soft side in melted butter ; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and but-
tered crumbs, pressing crumbs into tomato with knife. Arrange
in well greased broiler and broil until soft with skin side down.
Remove to hot serving platter and serve immediately.
Notes from the Field
Garfield Stake.
A fine demonstration of what may be accomplished when
vision is coupled with faith and energy is given in the work of
the past year in the Garfield stake Relief Society. Under the
able leadership of the stake presidency and board, all lines of
Relief Society work have been enthusiastically demonstrated,
with wonderfully fine results. The activities have included
ward conferences in all the wards of the stake, a very fine
visiting teachers' convention, and a teacher-training conven-
tion. Subjects for discussion in these various activities have
Display by Escalante North Ward
been along those lines that will tend to make the women more
efficient in the discharge of their duties in the Society as well
as in the home. Recognition of the fine cook book published
by this stake has been made before in the Magazine, and the
fact that the artistic side of the work has not been neglected
is borne out in the picture here presented. This is from the
Escalante North Ward ; it shows the type of art work accom-
plished in the Work and Business Meeting.
In this stake there are special obstacles to be overcome.
We congratulate President Rowan and her board upon the
work accomplished.
Summit Stake.
News of the reorganization of the Summit stake Relief
Society came to the office some time ago, but it was not until
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 443
the present issue that the Magazine was able to announce the
list of newly elected officers. They are : president, Myrtle
Richens; first counselor, Edith C. Clark; second counselor,
Annie W. Wilde; secretary-treasurer, Caroline B. Sargent;
chorister, Judith A. Beard; organist, Mary E. Wright; maga-
zine representative, Vivian D. Sargent; literary leader, Lydia
Demming; teachers' topic leader, Bessie Hixson; clinic and
welfare work, Clara Copely. We think highly of the Summit
stake organization, and expect excellent work from the fine
corps of leaders now in charge.
North Sevier Stake.
Under the leadership of the new presidency and stake
beard, North Sevier stake Relief Society entertained the fol-
lowing retiring officers: Minnie S. Dastrup, president; Eliza-
beth Thalman, first counselor; Virgie E. Cowley, secretary-
treasurer ; and Laura E. Holdaway, social service leader. For
their long and efficient services, the retiring officers were pre-
sented with a token of appreciation. Mrs. Dastrup has served
as president for the past seven years. As they retire from their
office, these sisters enjoy the love and appreciation of the en-
tire stake. Similar successful work is expected from the new
officers who have assumed the leadership.
Curlew Stake.
A clinic and piece of social welfare work exceptionally
successful in the field of health has been carried on in the)
Curlew stake under the leadership of the Relief Society stake
presidency and board. There are, in all, about 1,256 people in
the Curlew stake. The inconvenience of taking people who need
attention to the distant hospitals renders most necessary such
pieces of work as that recently accomplished by the stake board.
With the unreserved cooperation of the local physician, who
called others to his aid, in some 43 cases diseased tonsils and
adenoids were removed. The Relief Society organization ad-
vanced and the money to those who were unable to meet the
cost. This greatly needed piece of welfare work has produced
excellent results in the stake.
Pocatello Stake.
: On March 18th, the recreation hall of the Pocatello stake
Relief Society was the scene of a large gathering celebrating
the anniversary of the birth of the Relief Society. A beautiful
pageant depicting the growth and development of the Relief
Societies in the stake was presented. Over 100 women took
part in this demonstration. The stage was artistically deco-
rated in orchid and yellow and white flowers, the actors being
444 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
gowned in the same colors. Mrs. Otto McKnelly was the reader,
and a combined ladies' chorus and orchestra furnished appro-
priate music. The seven general presidents of the Relief Society
since 1842 were shown in living pictures. A biblical pageant
depicting famous women of the Bible opened the entertainment.
So successful was the program that on March 24th it was repeated.
California Mission — Merced Branch.
Fine reports reach us in reference to the work in the Cali-
Merced Relief Society
fornia mission. The picture, typical of the groups of Relief
Society women carrying on the work, came to us from the
Merced branch.
Kolob Stake.
Another fine celebration of the anniversary day of the
Relief Society was that of the Kolob stake, when the stake
board entertained the ward executive officers and the stake
presidency and their wives. All guests were asked to wear an
old-fashioned bonnet. During the luncheon an address of
welcome was given by Stake Relief Society President Hannah
B. Mendenhall. Each group was welcomed in honor of the
first Relief Society organization, and the succeeding presidents
down to the present day. During the luncheon, toasts in the
honor of St. Patrick were given from aeroplanes taking an
imaginary trip to the Emerald Isle. Games, community sing-
ing, and jokes ended a very pleasant afternoon. At the lunch-
eon the place cards were a surprise to Sister Mendenhall,
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
445
bearing a miniature photograph of herself. The various wards
of the stake celebrated Anniversary Day on Tuesday, March
19th. Four of the wards gave the play "The Miracle,'' written
by Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine and published in the Magazine.
The new plan for the visiting teachers is proving most satis-
factory and the attendance of teachers is steadily increasing.
Logan Stake.
The problem of beautifying the chapel grounds of the
Providence Second Ward was solved when the Relief Society
of that ward devised ways and means. Through the efforts
of a committee a gravel bed was made into a beautiful lawn
and flower-bed. Each member of the Relief Society was asked
to donate 50 cents for plants and shrubs ; the men of the ward,
donating their work, placed in fit condition the grounds).
About $752.60 was the total of the donation in cash and work.
Not only did the group of women respond to their part of the
work, but planted corn and beans on a vacant piece of property
and made noodles to sell, realizing over $300 from the sale.
Extensive improvements throughout the coming season are
planned by the beautification committee.
May
4- 5
May
11-12
May
18-19
May
25-26
June
1- 2
June
15-16
June
22-23
June
29-30
July
6- 7
July
13-14
Aug.
17-18
Aug.
24-25
Aug.
31-
Sept.
1
Oct.
19-20
June
23 S
Aug.
25 I
Relief Society Group Conventions, 1929
Two-day Conventions
Alberta, Lethbridge, St. Johns, Uintah.
Snowflake, Taylor.
Big Horn, Maricopa.
Juarez, Kanab, St. Joseph.
Boise, Moapa, Raft River, San Juan.
St. George, San Luis, Star Valley, Union, Young.
Carbon.
Wayne, Woodruff.
Curlew, Lost River, Lyman.
Bannock, Emery.
Blaine, Roosevelt.
Duchesne.
Garfield, Idaho, Panguitch.
Nevada.
One-day Conventions
San Francisco.
Burley, Cassia, Franklin, Minidoka, North Sevier,
Oneida, Teton.
446 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Sept. 8 Benson, Box Elder, Cache, Hyrum, Logan, Mont-
pelier.
Sept. 15 Bear Lake, Fremont, Malad, Rigby, Summit,
Yellowstone.
Sept. 22 Mt. Ogden, Ogden, North Weber, Pocatello, Port-
neuf, Tooele, Twin Falls, Weber.
Sept. 29 Alpine, Juab, Kolob, Lehi, Palmyra, Timpanogos,
Utah.
Oct. 13 Bear River, Beaver, Idaho Falls, Millard, Morgan.
Nebo, Wasatch.
Oct. 20 Blackfoot, Gunnison, Hollywood, North Sanpete.
Sevier, South Sanpete, South Sevier, Shelley.
Oct. 27 Deseret, Los Angeles, North Davis, Parowan,
Tintic.
Nov. 17 South Davis.
Note : Dates for the ten Salt Lake County stake conven-
tions will be announced later.
Vacation's Disease
By Lmnie Fisher Robinson
O Time, stop a moment ! — why, I'm ill at ease ;
Vacation is going; I've still the disease:
Trips in the canyons, camps under tall pines,
Swimming and dancing, no time for the lines
Of the books we love dear, or the words that fall clear.
On our hearts when the call of our work comes to ear.
O Time, stop a moment ! — I can't see you go ;
It's surely not over, I've loved it all so.
Vacation ? The word seems as faint and as far
From things I love now, as a dim shining star.
I've read books and loved them, heard tales of them told,
Shook hands with an author more precious than gold.
From the lips of the sisters with hair silv'ry gray
Living tokens of hope from the Gospel's bright ray.
I've seen the sick cared for, the lonely made glad,
And great shafts of sunshine for me when I'm sad.
0 Time, pass along just however you please;
1 wouldn't want always "vacation's disease."
Guide Lessons For October
LESSON I
Theology and Testimony
(First Week in October)
BOOK OF MORMON: SOME PRELIMINARIES
1. Preview of Lesson: For the next lesson read the first
fourteen chapters of the. Book of Mormon — to page 32.
This covers the following points: First, the visions of Lehi,
concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the commandment
of the Lord for him to, take his family "into the wilderness" and
across the sea to the Promised Land; second, the actual, journey
as far as the Valley of Lemuel, which was "near the borders" of
the Red Sea at the mouth of a river that emptied into it ; thirjd*
some things that happened in this valley — the return of the four
sons of Lehi to Jerusalem for the Brass Plates, their return there
for the family of Islimael, and an extended vision to Nephi in con-
firmation of one already given to his father. Put into a brief
outline, it would be :
I. Visions to Lehi.
1. Concerning Jerusalem.
2. Concerning the Promised Land.
II. Journey to and Encampment in Lemuel.
III. Events in the Valley of Lemuel.
1. Return of the sons to Jersualem.
(a) For the Brass Plates.
What these were.
How they compare with our Bible. (See 13:23.)
(b) For the family of Ishmael.
2. Visions in the Valley of Lemuel.
(a) To Lehi, concerning the iron rod.
(b) To Nephi, concerning
Christ in Palestine and America.
The apostate church,
White colonists in America,
Later developments.
2. A Look Ahead: It may be well perhaps to give here a
suggestion of what the present course in the Book of Mormon is
to cover, since it is to extend over the next three years.
For one thing we shall read the Book of Mormon from cover
to cover. That is the only way in which one can catch the spirit
of the book. This will take about two years of nine lessons, each,
448 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
and maybe more. During the progress of this reading we shall
attempt to study the story of the Book of Mormon peoples in
connection with their social, political, and religious ideas, and to
ascertain the spiritual doctrines contained in the Record of the
Nephites, section by section.
And then we shall consider in the last year of the course, the
teachings of the Book of Mormon in their relation one to another,
as a system of religion, and also we shall seek to ascertain how .
we may know the truth of the Book of Mormon, through internal
evidences, external evidences, and the testimony of the Holy Ghost.
Speaking of evidences, we ought probably to begin with the
same thought with which we shall end, namely, the way in which
the Book of Mormon itself advises that we find out its truth. It
is in the very last chapter, verses 3-5. In order to emphasize the
point it would be well to read it in the class and spend a few
minutes talking about it.
We have doubtless heard a great deal about the external
evidences of the Nephite Record — that is, about the confirmation
we have in Indian traditions, in the ruins of ancient America, and
other ways. All this is good enough in its place, but we must
know what that place is. No amount of study of these evidences
will give us a testimony of the Book of Mormon. At best they
can but confirm the testimony we may already have. There is only
one way in which that testimony can come, and that is the way
suggested by the book itself — through the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This way gives us personal experience — the only way in which we
can know anything, so as to be sure about it.
3. A Wonderful Book : Three things are to be noted under
this head.
The Book of Mormon is wonderful in its contents as history.
It tells us of some very singular events. Some of these are such
as cannot be duplicated in any other volume for their dramatic
nature. And then there are some very remarkable people de-
scribed there, and in such a way as to make them stand out in our
minds.
Trie Book of Mormon is a wonderful book in its teachings.
The Prophet Joseph said once that the Nephite Scriptures are
the "most correct'' in their teachings of any in the world and
that one can get nearer to God by living according to these teach-
ings than by any other book whatsoever. And he ought to know.
The doctrines of the Book of Mormon are explained in a way
that can be undersfood by any one. Moreover, it contains the
fulness of the gospel.
The Book of Mormon also is wonderful in its spirit. Every
person, as you know, has a spirit peculiar to himself. So has
every home. Similarly every book emits an influence, because
it was written by some person with an influence. The spirit of
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER 449
the Book of Mormon is highly spiritual, devotional. The keynote
of this spiritual volume was struck by the first Nephi when he
wrote that he would set down only "the things of God" and
ordered that his successors of the pen should do the same. No
one can read the Book of Mormon through, believing what he
reads, without experiencing a feeling of exaltation and faith in
God. I
4. The Nephite Record, as we have already stated, is to be
read from beginning to end. But in order that this reading shall
be the easier and the more intelligent, it is necessary to keep
certain things clearly in mind.
The Book of Mormon is not a modern book, either in form
or in content. It is a translation, not an original composition,
by Joseph Smith. Its people lived ages ago — the Jaredites more
than twenty-five centuries ago and the Nephites more than sixteen
hundred years ago. They thought in terms of their own simple
lives and civilization and culture. And the language of the Book
of Mormon is the language of a young man in our own generation
who had had no training at all in literary work. This fact must
never be lost sight of in reading the Nephite Record.
Out of this basic fact come two very important things, also
to be kept in mind.
One is that the form in which the Book of Mormon is cast
is ancient, not modern. It begins, as you may know, with the
migration of the Lehites from Jerusalem to America, and goes
on to detail the history of the colonists to the year four hundred
twenty-one, A. D. Toward the end of the volume we are given
a brief history of a people who lived here for a thousand years
before the Lehites came to America. If the Book of Mormon
were a modern composition, it would most likely begin with the
earlier people, and proceed in chronological order.
Again, the record of the Nephites and their conflicts with the
Lamanites is sometimes hard to follow by reason of the structure.
The sections of the book are named from the writers of them, in-
stead of from the nature of the subject-matter, as it would be
were it a modern composition. Besides, groups of people every
now and then form colonies and have their own history recorded,
which, when it furnishes any material such as Nephi would think
dealt sufficiently with "the things of God," are told in the gen-
eral narrative. In modern dress these side-accounts would be
indicated by the necessary typography.
Another fact growing out of the antiquity of the Book
of Mormon which must be borne in mind, lies in the nature of its
contents. Its people are simple, primitive folk, not the sophisti-
cated sort we read about in the histories of other ancient peoples.
And so when we read here of kings and queens, of palaces and
thrones, or of judges and courts, we must guard against reading
450 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
into these terms ideas that we have attached to similar words in
the histories of European nations. Moreover, we do not have
the entire history of the Book of Mormon peoples. Instead we
are given the life ol the nation as it bore on the main theme of
the Record, which was, as you may remember, whatever brought
out the "things of God."
Questions
1. Suppose the head of your family should ask that you and
the children go with him to, say, the interior of Africa, on foot
or, at best, on animals, in the primitive fashion, and he gave as a
reason that he had had a dream or vision. What would be your
reaction, and the reaction of other members of the family, to
this request ? Consider in detail what you would be leaving, what
you would be going to, the probable hardships you would endure
on the way. (The Lehite women bore children on the way, in-
cluding Sariah.) This will help you to realize the situation in
the case of Lehi and his family.
2. Since the customs of the Book of Mormon peoples will be
very important in our study, it would be a good thing to have
one or two persons appointed from the class to set down from
time to time, and keep a record of these, as we go along in our
reading. For instance, in the present lesson we read . that the
language used was Egyptian, that they lived in tents in the Valley
of Lemuel, that they knew of wine and drunkenness, that metallic
plates were used as records, and so on. At the end of the course,
when this material will be called for, we shall have it pretty much
collected and arranged.
3. Also it will be a good thing to set down the doctrinal
points as we come to them. Maybe some one or two could be
appointed to do this work — not the same, of course, as take care
of the other. This, too, will come in handy later on. If all
the members of the class will do this, so much the better.
4. What differences do you find between Nephi and Laman?
Can you account for these differences? What was it that made
Nephi the leader?
5. How did Nephi come to know that his father had really
received a vision? Is there any other way by which he could
have learned this ? Why did not the other members of the family
do as he did — especially Lehi's wife?
6. Read in the class the words of Nephi (3 :7) about the Lord
preparing a way to fulfill his commandments. What does this
mean ? Recall other similar cases where this has been done.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER 451
LESSON II
Work and Business
INTRODUCTION TO TEACHERS' TOPICS FOR 1929-30
''The grand aim of man's creation is the development of a
grand character, and a grand character is by its very nature the
product of a probationary discipline."
In this the chief aim of our existence, this wonderful re-
sponsibility of becoming co-workers with God, is placed upon the
parents. In the work of building noble character, "Their power
lies in the words they use, the examples they set, and the acts they
approve." "They teach the precepts that tend to perpetuate their
philosophy of life. They either emphasize these precepts or nullify
them by example." — From "Character Education in the Denver
Public Schools" Monograph No. 14.
Character cannot be "talked into" boys and girls. Thought-
ful and persistent means must be used from earliest childhood.
The creation of favorable conditions, watch care, guidance, and
example build day by day the stable qualities that enable the child
to pass normally through the adolescent period into strong, re-
sponsible manhood and womanhood.
"The little one begins to learn after it is born, and all that it
knows greatly depends upon its environment, the influences under
which it is brought up, the kindness with which it is treated,
the noble example shown it, the hallowed influence of father and
mother over its infant mind. The child will be largely what its
environment and its parents make it." — President Joseph F. Smith.
Our aim this year will be to bring to the attention of the
mothers those fundamental traits of character that secure real
and lasting happiness. In the inculcation of these traits we are
now incurring the risk of failure. We hope to approach our
task with such prayerful hearts, such faith and love, as will
secure the blessings of heaven in the solution of our problems.
The topics to be considered are: Upholding Church Stand-
ards, Obedience, Reverence, Courage, Patriotism, Cheerfulness,
Gratitude, Courtesy, Cooperation of Parents.
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR OCTOBER
(This topic is to be given at the special teachers' meeting the
first week in October)
UPHOLDING CHURCH STANDARDS
I. Church standards are established on the rock of revelation:
1. Gospel truths are not dependent on time and place — they
are always true.
452 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
2. If the most famous doctors should say there is no harm
in tobacco, we should still have the unfailing word of the
Lord to the contrary.
II. What makes adherence to Church standards difficult?
1. Community standards are no longer Church standards.
2. Little by little there is danger of slipping away from the
truth.
3. If Church standards are hard for us to maintain, they are
still more difficult for our children. We, having known
pioneer parents, have been thrilled by their devotion to
the gospel ; whereas our children are living in an age of
emphasis on man's material achievements.
III. There is in the gospel a power that gives us the strength to
do right.
IV. How shall we utilize this power for our children?
1. We must lead children to realize the importance of re-
ligion in their lives.
2. We must give instruction — must teach from infancy a love
of the gospel and respect for its laws.
Example :
a. Showing our love for the gospel.
b. Not over-emphasizing material things but imparting a
proper sense of values.
c. While cultivating tolerance towards others, we must not
allow ourselves to weaken in our adherence to Church
standards.
V. How can we make the standards of the Church our stand-
ards ?
1 . Since we have the definite word of the Lord on these things
there can be no excuse for any lowering of standards to
meet emergencies.
2. We must keep holy the Sabbath day.
3. Observe the Word of Wisdom.
4. Maintain chastity as the pearl of life.
VI. When is the time to act?
1. We must begin early and continue late entering into their
lives.
2. We must really enter into the hopes, ideals, lives, of our
children.
3. We must lead and permit them to enter into ours.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER 453
»
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in October)
Preview of Literary Lessons for 1929-30
The nine biographies and the issues of the Magazines in which
the various outlines are to be published are :
1. Karl G. Maeser, by Reinhard Maeser; August, 1929.
2. The Girl in the White Armor, by Albert Bigelow Paine ;
September, 1929.
3. Since An American Idyl is out of print, a further an-
nouncement will be made in relation to the October sketch.
4. A Son of the Middle Border, by Hamlin Garland; No-
vember, 1929.
5. The Lost Commander, by Mrs. Mary S. Andrews; De-
cember, 1929.
6. Noon, by Kathleen Norris; January, 1930.
7. Joaquin Miller, by himself; February, 1930.
8. Schumann-Heink, by Mary Lawton; March, 1930.
9. Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson; April, 1930.
(These books may be purchased from the Deseret Book Com-
pany, 44 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah.)
This selection has been made because of the interest of
the books themselves and because of the beauty of life that
is found in most of them.
Class leaders could very well make the assignments for
the year now, in order that those who are to review the books
may have plenty of time in which to read them and absorb their
contents. Wherever possible the entire membership of the
class should read the books. Nine books are not many to read
in a sason, especially when the books are as fascinating and as
worth while as these are.
With one or two exceptions these are all cheap books, to
be had at very reasonable prices. Every library in the entire
inter-mountain region might well own at least one copy of
each of these books. Fascinating as fiction, they are as valu-
able as the best works in literature.
Some questions that reviewers should ask themselves and
the authors when they are reading the books are : What has
this author attempted to do? How well has he or she accom-
plished it? Is the feeling sound? Or is the narrative over
sentimental? Or is it too cold? Are the incidents well selected
to reveal the character in question? Is the language suitable?
Are the words well chosen? Does the book have charm? Is
the character portrayed as he or she is or was, or does the
author give only those incidents which tend to create a pre-
454 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
conceived impression? That is, does the biography state un-
biased fact? Or is it propaganda in favor of the character
considered?
So much for the literary form of the biography. The
reviewer may then turn to the character under observation and
propound some questions: Is this person worth knowing?
Why? Did he have something for the world the lack of
which would make the world poorer? What is that some-
thing? Is he revealed in this narrative? What successes did
he have which encourage us in our work? What failures
did he suffer which we may avoid? Of what importance was
he in his time? At present? What heritage did he leave?
What characters whom you know have some of his better
traits ?
The reviewer's problem is to reveal to her audience the
character of the person under observation, especially if that
audience has not read the book that is being studied. She
must also be able to point out the excellencies and short-
comings of the authors, telling in what way they have
been successful and in what ways they have fallen short.
KARL G. MAESER
By Reinhard Maeser
The life of Karl G. Maeser, by his son, Reinhard
Maeser, has been selected for study as the first biography
of the series that will constitute this course.
This selection was made because of the importance of
the subject and Dr. Maeser's place in the affections of
thousands of Latter-day Saints. It is such a eulogy as one
would expect from a respectful son concerning his father.
In this biography we behold Karl G. Maeser, the hero of a
son's heart; but we catch few glimpses of Karl G. Maeser
when he is not on dress parade.
At the beginning of the course, a few suggestions and
definitions may be in order.
For instance, before we begin upon these excellent books,
perhaps it would be well to tabulate a few things for which
we are to be on the lookout.
If "Biography presents the picture of a mind, a soul,
a heart, of an environment; of successes and failure that
make, or seek to make, the subject immortal", as Dr. Joseph
Collins says it does, then we are to observe in the story of
this life those elements which enshrined it in so many hearts.
"From biography," Dr. Collins continues, "man gets
moral, physical, mental, and emotional assistance; he sees
where others have failed, and why; he recognizes avoidable
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER
455
obstacles and handicaps ; he learns the value of health and
its relation to happiness ; and he is made to see that material
prosperity doas not always spell spiritual welfare.
"He appreciates the meaning of culture and its influence
on the individual and his time ; he runs the gamut of emotions
that are aroused by all good biographies ; he suffers vica-
riously or enjoys objectively with the subject. His own life
therefore becomes happier and more complete because of his
intimate sojourn with a successful predecessor."
In twenty-eight brief chapters, Reinhard Maeser, a
former professor of English at Brigham Young University,
has attempted to give to posterity a biography of his illustri-
ous father ; but through them all, he has revealed the fact
that he was more of a historian than a biographer, after all.
We see more of what Karl G. Maeser did than of what he was.
The book begins with the youth and early life of Dr.
Maeser as the background for his later life. It then follows
the gr.eat teacher through many trials and triumphs to his
selection as principal of Brigham Young Academy, the parent
Church school, and thence to his new position of superin-
tendent of schools. The later chapters contain accounts of
his death and many of the expressions concerning him made
by prominent people.
In his narration, Reinhard Maeser has employed simple
and direct, though effective language, but has not attempted
to garnish up the story.
The biography indicates that Dr. Maeser's life might
well be divided into three periods : first, the period of pre-
paration in the Fatherland, when, as student and teacher,
he laid the foundation for his career; second, the period of
growth, during which he acted as pioneer and missionary ;
and third, the final period, in which he became the great
educator and director of educational affairs.
Karl Gottfried Maeser was born January 16, 1828, in
Vorbrucke, Meissen, in Saxony, Germany. His parents, be-
lieving in preparation for life's work, encouraged their chil-
dren to obtain an education. Karl G. was graduated in May,
1848, from the Normal School at Fredrichstadt.
In the year 1855, a young married man with one son,
he met for the first time three "Mormon" missionaries. He
was soon converted.
This first period of his father's life Reinhard passes over
rather hurriedly, though glimpses of the character of the future
great teacher are given. A long period of trouble and per-
plexity is then recounted till 1856, when the German school
teache'r and his little family emigrated to America, where all
were to be tried as in a fiery furnace. Poverty and home-
456 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
sickness were combined with parental importunities to have
the convert renounce the new religion and return to Germany ;
but Karl G. Maeser's testimony of the Gospel stood through-
out his life, steadfast as the mountains looking down upon
his struggles.
Educated, refined, this gentleman from the culture of
Germany was thrown into company of excellent though some-
times uncouth companions, who were officers in the new
Church he had joined; and he soon discovered the hearts of
gold beating beneath the rough exteriors.
Soon after reaching Salt Lake City, the German school
master opened a private school; and from that time on, except
when he was filling missions, he kept constantly busy in his
chosen profession. It was a "starvation period," throughout
which the professor was successful in collecting barely enough
to keep his family from actual want. His son has preserved
for us a vivid picture of this period.
"He knew," says the biographer, "what it was* to be
hungry ; he knew what it was to shiver with his loved ones on
Christmas day ; he knew what it was to hear people say :
'If he's too lazy to work for his living, let him starve.' "
During these dark days he received a letter from his
father imploring him to return to Germany, where he could
resume his position again and live comfortably ; but he
would not turn against his testimony. He threw the letter
into the fire, thanking God once more for a testimony that
enabled him to bear up under his trials. "I would rather take
my wheelbarrow and go day by day among this people, col-
lecting chips and whetstones for my pay than to have the
Kingdom of Saxony open to me, if that meant sacrifice of my
knowledge and testimony of the gospel."
His most bitter struggles ended in 1876 when Professor
Maeser, crowning his faith with glory, was called to his great-
est work, that of becoming first principal of the Brigham!
Young Academy, the parent Church school.
When preparing to leave his home in Salt Lake City for
his new home in Provo, he went to President Young for his
commission.
"I am about to leave for Provo, Brother Young," he said,
"to start my work in the Academy. Have you any instructions
to give me?"
The President looked steadily forward for a few minutes,
as though in deep thought, then said : "Brother Maeser, I want
you to remember that you ought not to teach even the alphabet
or the multiplication table without the spirit of God. That is all.
God bless you. Good-bye."
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER 457
Those words of the Prophet, says the biographer, were
guiding principles in all of Dr. Maeser's subsequent work, be-
coming the means of inspiration to hundreds of young men "to
become their better selves."
In 1892, after sixteen years of service as principal, Dr.
Maeser was released and appointed superintendent of the
Church School System. During his incumbency, he organized
the Religion Class work.
The life of the great teacher drew sweetly yet suddenly to
a close when, early in the morning of February 15, 1901, he
fell asleep not to waken again in this life.
Karl G. Maeser is a well written book containing much
that is fine. The writer was handicapped by his reverence for his
father. He has not given us, and perhaps no one could, the Karl
G. Maeser who was strong enough to impress himself so deeply
upon the minds and souls of those who came in contact with him.
Some of the sayings of this philosophical educator have
become as potent in many lives as lines from the scripture.
"Relatives and debtors of great characters should not un-
dertake to be their biographers," says Dr. Collins. Perhaps he
is right; yet we have in this volume the story of a noble life
nobly lived. From it we can draw inspiration and the power
with which to conquer our own world. The great teacher has
passed on. Hundreds knew him; other hundreds are now to
know him through this book by his eldest son.
Questions and Problems
1. Criticize Karl G. Maeser, by Reinhard Maeser, from a
literary point of view. That is, point out the excellencies and
any defects discovered in the book. Is the language effective?
Does it ring true? Does it give an adequate picture of Dr.
Maeser? Does it reveal the man sufficiently for him to become
a potent factor in your life ? Etc.
2. Name some of the traits of character that made Dr.
Maeser great.
3. What part did preparation play in his life?
4. Discuss the topic : "Fortunate is the Great Man Who
Has a Great Biographer."
458 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in October)
PREVIEW OF SOCIAL SERVICE LESSONS FOR 1929-30
Social Service Lessons for 1929-30 will be as follows :
The first three lessons, for October, November, and Decem-
ber, will be a continuation of the Child Study Course, with "The
Child: His Nature and His Needs" as the text; the subject of the
six lessons that follow, covering the months from January to
June inclusive, will be "The Field of Social Work." No text
will be required for these lessons, but references for outside
reading will be given.
Lesson 16
CHANGING OBJECTIVES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS
(Based on Part 3 of "The Child: His Nature and His Needs")
Our system of compulsory education was finally established
after a long discussion. The conclusion was that every person
who could read, write, and calculate according to the needs of
daily life, and who had learned something about religion, the
founding of our government,' and the principles of freedom upon
which it is maintained, would make a better citizen than one who
could not read or write. Those who could not read or write would
have to depend upon others for information regarding the nature
of our government and what it demands of every citizen in order
that it may continue strong, stable, and prosperous.
A question frequently arises regarding the mounting expense
of our educational system. Education is more expensive than any
other public enterprise. But, quoting from the author of this
chapter, M. V. O'Shea: "Do you know that the nation's tobacco
bill is greater each year than its bill for elementary, high school,
collegiate, and normal school education all combined? Do you
know there is as much spent for candy and chewing gum as for
all our educational work? and that much more is expended for
automobiles and gasoline for joy riding, than is expended for
school buildings, equipment, text books, teachers, health officers
in schools, play grounds, and all other items of school work com-
bined? Do you know that base ball and the threatre cost as much
as our total educational bill?"
Our communities need men and women trained in surgery,
medicine, psychiatry, education, nursing, and all professions. If
the communities assist in training those who live by charging a
GUIDE LESSONS FOR OCTOBER
459
price for these services, the community is better off than without
such service. Thus the interest of the individual and that of the
community are reciprocal, and, for the most part, mutually de-
pendent. For the people who will not work at these highly
trained professions, education lays the foundation for an under-
standing of the relationships that exist among all classes of
people as well as for a wider and richer appreciation of nature, of
literature, and of beauty available for enjoyment. An artisan who
appreciates the value of his life to mankind, who appreciates the
beauty and significance of his surroundings, and who evaluates his
conduct in terms of the real happiness it brings him and others, is
just as truly an educated man as is a doctor or lawyer.
The author suggests there is more pain and unhappiness
caused by failure to adapt to one another because of tempera-
mental, moral, or aesthetic deficiencies than there is for lack of
food, clothing, and shelter. He further says: "The most stable
and prosperous nation is the one in which the people are the best
organized and best trained in group adjustment and co-operation,
rather than the one that is most prolific in material resources."
The guiding aim in teaching the child to read and write
should be that he may participate in what his ancestors have
achieved and what his associates are now achieving, and that he
may communicate his exeriences to others. A pupil should study
history in order to learn the course over which the race has
come, and to understand the conditions essential to the welfare
of present society. He should study geography in order that
he may be a citizen of the world and not simply of the street or
town in which he happens to live at the moment. He should
learn that human society today is bound together very closely,
and that while people may be separated in space they should be
very close together in spirit — that we are all one body and the
conduct of one individual has its influence upon all his fellows.
In the end, co-operation and altruism yield happiness; antip-
athy and selfishness are certain to yield pain and discontent.
Questions
1. How is a community as a whole benefitted by free com-
pulsory education?
2. Can we afford to expand our free school system downward
to include nurseries and kindergartens? To include part time
and adult classes? If so, how shall we pay the bill?
3. Which of the physical desires may be lessened by in-
tellectual concentration and satisfaction? Of the following:
joyriding, cigarettes, over-use of cosmetics and candy, which could
be modified by reading, music, urt, and physical play, if the latter
were adequately and properly taught ?
460 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
4. What might be attained economically, physically, and in-
tellectually, if the use of tobacco could be eliminated?
5. What objectives does the average parent have in mind
when he sends his children through school ?
6. In selecting courses of study for his child, along what lines
does the parent usually reason?
7. Accepting the statement, ''Man is that he may have joy,"
what should be the objectives in education?
8. Is vocational work in schools encouraged, or hindered by
the attitude of and remarks by parents regarding their own work?
Should a parent so educate a child that it will not have to work as
its parents have done?
9. Criticise the following quotation : "Children should be
allowed to live their lives straight out. They should not hesitate to
expose their ignorance. When children are stimulated to study
for fear of failure to please the teacher or parent, to get a grade
or to be promoted, a subtle influence is at work producing double
motives. This not only interferes with the coordination of the
nervous system, resulting in ill-health, but also prevents clean
thinking; and most of all it interferes with that basic sincerity
which is the fundamental condition of a fine moral life." (Hart:
A Social Interpretation of Education, page 150-1.)
10. (a) Do the children of your community have opportunity
for training in some vocation that will enable them to take care
of themselves economically and physically? (b) Is their environ-
ment sufficiently aesthetic, as to what they see and hear, to make
them happy? (c) Are they being trained to improve their own
surroundings in this respect? (d) Are they learning to be of
service in society? (e) Are they being trained to live in peace and
harmony with their associates? (f) Cite actual things taught
in school that contribute to each of the above aims.
There are still available about seventy-five copies of The
Child: His Nature and His Needs, which will be used as a text
for the Social Service lessons until the end of this year. Orders
for this book should be addressed to the General Secretary's Office,
28 Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. The price is $1.25,
postpaid.
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College of Arts and Sciences College of Education
College of Fine Arts
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If you haven't received your 1929-30 catalogue you may obtain
one by addressing:
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Relie
Ma&azine
Portrait of Mm Herbert Hoover. .Frontispiece
Transfiguration Henry F. Kirkham 463
Portrait of Mrs. Calvin Coolidge 464
The Coming of Autumn
Mary Hale Woolsey 465
Dr. Katharine Blunt 466
Sketch of Life of Dr. Katharine Blunt... 467
My Awakening Amy M. Rice 469
Three Generations of "Y" Graduates (with
portrait) Harrison R. Merrill 471
Stick to It! Weston N. Nordgren 472
Editorial — Honorary Degrees for Women. 473
The Social Workers' Conference 475
Ruth 476
Bread Shirley Rei Gudmundsen 476
Developing the Moral Judgment
Dean Milton Bennion 477
Recompense Estelle Webb Thomas 484
Around the Bend Henry Catmull 490
Walt's Luck Pawah Torrido 491
Harvest Moon Virginia C. Jordan 498
Notes from the Feld 499
Guide Lessons for November 502
Uncontrollable Curiosity
.Owen Woodruff Bunker 518
MRS. HERBERT HOOVER
Substituted for her husband, President Hoover, when she addressed
the Young Women of Radcliffe College, June, 1929
Transfiguration
By Henry F. Kirkham
Spring goes!
Her distant bells a murmured echo send —
Yet now, where fairy lips first kissed from sleep
The fallow earth, soft shadows quaintly blend;
Lo, luscious summer fills the world complete,
And golden glory full fruition lends.
Spring goes!
Her flowered steps a promised legacy-
Even as child and lilting laughter part
To bloom again, the man who is to be;
So virgin life holds close beneath her heart
The potent seed of some high destiny.
MRS. CALVIN COOLIDGE
Who received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Smith College,
June, 1929
THE COMING OF AUTUMN
By Mary Hale Woolsey
Autumn is coming, the bold, the gay,
With a laugh and a song in Gypsy mood;
With days of splendor — her gifts to earth —
And hours of storm-hushed solitude.
* * * Spring crept so shyly into the vale,
Hiding awhile in the sheltered places;
And Summer, too — we could not tell
Just the day she came with her thousand graces.
But for Autumn — none of such modest ways!
Hers is a conqueror's manner of pride;
Hers those triumphal pennants flung
From the highest grove on the mountain-side!
Then a song for Autumn, the bold, the gay,
The season of majesty and mirth;
* * * There's a maple aflame against the sky—
And Autumn's at hand to claim the earth!
DR. KATHARINE BLUNT
New President of Connecticut College for Women
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI SEPTEMBER, 1929 No. 9
Sketch of Life of Dr* Katharine Blunt
Dr. Katharine Blunt, who will assume her duties as President
of Connecticut College, New London, was born in Philadelphia
on May 28, 1876, of Massachusetts and New York parents. Her
father, a West Point graduate, Colonel of Ordnance, U. S. Army,
retired, was living in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the time of
his death. Her mother lives in Springfield, Massachusetts.
She has had both an extensive and varied educational expe-
rience covering a period of a quarter of a century. In her prepa-
ration for the responsible positions she has held, she attended
schools in Washington, D. C, and in Springfield, Massachusetts
(Miss Porter's School, 1889-94). In 1898 she took her bacca-
laureate degree from Vassar College, and later on did graduate
work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1907 she
received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University
of Chicago, her major being chemistry.
Then began her professional career. Her first teaching was
done in Vassar College where, as an assistant instructor in chem-
istry, she worked from 1903-05. In the interim she did work in
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, returning again to Vassar from 1908
to 1913. Then came her appointment on the faculty of the Uni-
versity of Chicago, where she made rapid progress, serving in
the capacity of assistant professor, associate professor and finally^
professor of home economics. From 1918 to 1925 she was chair-
man of the Department of Home Economics informally, when
the department was part of the School of Education, and form-
ally from 1925 to the present, with the Department on a regular
basis in the Graduate Schools and Colleges of Arts, Literature,
and Science.
Miss Blunt did war service in Washington from September,
1917, to June, 1918, with the U. S. Department of Agriculture
and the U. S. Food Administration, writing (with others) U. S.
Food Leaflets and a Course in Food Conservation for Colleges,
468 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
afterward published in book form by Houghton-Mifflin Com-
pany as Food and the War.
She is now finishing a book, in collaboration with Miss Ruth
Cowan, the exact title of which is not settled, on vitamin D and
ultraviolet light, a new chapter in nutrition, which is to be pub-
lished shortly by the University of Chicago Press. She has writ-
ten a number of articles published in the Journal of Home Eco-
nomics and the Journal of Biological Chemistry on general home
economics or nutrition subjects. Dr. Blunt is the editor of the
University of Chicago Home Economics Series.
She has been active for a number of years in the American
Home Economics Association, for three years as vice president,
for two as president, and now as a member of the Council. She
is also a member of several other professional societies, of the
Chicago College Club, the Prairie Club, etc.
The following extracts from an article published in July in
the Boston Globe are of interest :
"Higher education for women means healthier babies and a
physical improvement of the race.
"This is the opinion of Dr. Katharine Blunt, scientist, teacher
and college administrator, who will drop her work at the Univer-
sity of Chicago this summer and join the distinguished group of
New England college presidents.
"The training of women, she believes, brings an immediate
reaction in the next generation.
"The newly-appointed president of the not very old Con-
necticut College for Wlomen obviously likes her job and has faith
in the capacity of her sex to make large contributions to civil-
ization.
" 'Of course/ she said, 'the modern mother knows more
about bringing up children, about properly feeding, dressing and
training them than her mother knew.
" 'There has been a tremendous development in the whole
subject of nutrition. It has had its origin in the scientific lab-
oratory, and has been widely applied. Not only highly trained
mothers, but mothers with less training realize the benefit of this
increased knowledge.
" 'The president of a college for women must believe in a
woman's ability to take part in a great variety of occupations. She
must believe in woman's capacity for intellectual progress. She
must have faith in woman's fitness for scholarship and for posi-
tions of influence in society.
" 'These are articles in my creed. I believe woman is capable
of applying what she acquires in a college training in the home,
in the arts, in civic life. The richer lives women lead, the better
it will be for our civilization.' "
My Awakening
By Amy M. Rice
Many and many a dream I've had
Of things I would like to be :
A pine tree tall against the sky
For all the world to see.
While in the valley are bushes small
Their worth I could never see ;
For a pine tree grand with branches tall
Was small enough for me.
And many and many a time, I'll state,
A river grand I would be,
Carrying ships both small and great
Away to the wonderful sea.
I love the rills and brooklets small,
Singing their way through the land ;
They play their part. But it takes them all
To make a river grand.
And many a time I've looked at the moon
When it flooded the world with light,
And wished that I a moon might be,
Looking down on the earth at night.
But the millions and millions of glittering stars
That twinkle so merrily —
Somehow their glory I never wished for ;
They seemed too small for me.
And so I dreamed, as the years went by,
Of wonderful things I'd be ;
But quite forgot that without the leaves
There could never be a tree ;
That the stars are worlds greater far than this,
Tho' small to the finite eye;
That without the rills, there could never be
A river grand rushing by.
Till at last, by the patient Master's will,
One thing I have come to know :
If you can't be a tree on the top of a hill,
Be a bush in the valley below.
If you can't be a river, then be a rill ;
If you can't be a moon, be a star.
By earnest endeavor, keep trying until
You're the best, whatever you are.
MISS ARLENE HARRIS, MRS. EUNICE S. HARRIS,
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN S. HARRIS
Three Generations of Brigham Young University Graduates
Three Generations of "Y" Graduates
By Harrison R. Merrill, Brigham Young University
Approximately fifty years ago, up from the little town
of Benjamin, located a few miles south of Provo, came Eunice
Stewart to attend school at Brigham Young University. When
she signed her name as a student that first day, perhaps she
did not know that she was the beginning of a line of "Y" stu-
dents among whom would be a president of the institution,
and a granddaughter who would go to Mexico to teach in a
community which she would later help establish.
Approximately twenty-five years later, Franklin Stewart
Harris, son of Dennison E. and Eunice Harris, found his way
to Brigham Young University. There he labored diligently,
in 1904 was graduated from high school, and in 1907 took a
Bachelor of Science degree.
Young Franklin, endowed with the spirit of his pioneer
ancestors, and pressing beyond the intellectual frontiers in
search of further knowledge, soon became nationally known
in his chosen field of agronomy. He returned from Cornell to
teach in the Utah Agricultural College, where his outstanding
ability soon placed him at the head of the Experiment Station.
Then his Alma Mater called. Dr. George H. Brimhall,
having grown old and gray in the service of his school, de-
served to spend some years of his later life free from the oner-
ous cares which his position forced upon him. In looking
for his successor the Church Board of Education found Frank-
lin Stewart Harris and elected him president of his and his moth-
er's school.
President Harris brought with him to Provo a small
family of children. They entered Brigham Young University ;
and this year, fifty years after his mother's graduation and
twenty-five years, approximately, after his own, his daughter,
Arlene, took her degree.
Arlene has accepted a teaching position at Juarez, Mexico,
the home town of her grandmother and her father.
The end of the line is not yet, perhaps. A quarter of a
century hence another with his or her middle name Harris may
come up to the old school that has meant so much to the
Harris family.
On the fifty-third commencement day, Eunice Stewart
Harris returned, June 5, last, to attend the graduation exer-
cises of her granddaughter, and stood with her son, the presi-
dent of the institution, and his daughter Arlene, to be photo-
graphed.
472 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Of course, there are many other cases of three generations
of "Y" graduates ; but these were especially interesting since
the three were practically a quarter of a century apart, and
Franklin Stewart Harris happened to be president at the time
of his daughter's graduation.
Stick To It!
By Weston N. Nordgran
No matter what trials you have in this life —
No matter what burdens you're called on to bear-
No matter what suff'ring and toil and care —
No matter what problems you meet in the strife-
Stick to it !
No matter what others may think of you, friend-
No matter if money is gone;
The thing that will count as you go on and on —
Is your courage and grit, and your definite end !
Stick to it !
Your loved ones may leave you alone to the world-
Your friends may desert you afield.
But the one who goes on, never thinking to yield-
Is the one for whom flags are unfurled !
Stick to it !
Your God is above you, to lend you a hand ;
Your sweetheart or mate may be true ;
But the test of your character is up to you!
Can you weather the storm — and stand ?
Stick to it!
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
VIRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Miss Alice Louise Reynolds Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE •
Editor - - Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Brown Lyman
Room 28, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI SEPTEMBER, 1929 No. 9
EDITORIAL
Honorary Degrees for Women
Not a great while ago women were made happy because
President Glen Frank drew to the University of Wisconsin three
well-known and well-beloved women in the realm of art. These
women were Maude Adams, Minnie Madden Fisk and Zona Gale.
There in the presence of the Commencement Convocation they
each received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. Utahns
were particularly interested in this event on Maude Adams' ac-
count, for they have always believed that she has earned any
honor that might be conferred upon her. Now Smith College
does itself proud by conferring on Mrs. Calvin Coolidge the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
We are using the presentation speech made by Pres-
ident Glen Frank in conferring the degrees on these three notable
women. They are of such high literary quality that we feel sure
that our readers will be interested in their inclusion. President
Frank addressing Miss Adams said :
Miss Adams: No one thought you would come to us, be-
cause no one thought you existed in flesh and blood ; you were to
us the discarnate spirit of immortal youth, dwelling in a fascinat-
ingly impossible world of Celtic fancy with "hills which emit
white birds and unwoundable pigs, thistle-stalks and fuzz-balls
474 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
which take the appearance of armies, witches who shoot heroes
through a hole in a leaf, dogs that turn men to ashes by 4their
breath, or produce out of their mouths quantities of gold and
silver, harps that spring to their owners and kill nine men on the
way, shields that roar to each other and are answered by the
Three Waves of Ireland." Certainly you had no right to walk
into this stadium on mere human feet; you should at least hav<;
flown to us on the wings of fantasy.
Because by the winsome witchery of your personality ani
the creative contagion of your spirit you have, as Peter Pan,
brought the lilt and laughter of youth to a world that must battle
with age from the hour of birth, and, as Chanticleer, your lyric
call has left eternal sunrise in the hearts of your hearers, I am
happy to confer upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of
Letters.
Mrs. Fiske: As Miss Adams has brought us escape from
the sordid and searing realities of our existence by carrying us
into Barrie's and Rostland's world of imagination and fancy, you,
like a priestess and prophetess, have brought us insight into the
realities of our existence by carrying us into the world of Ibsen
and those other social prophets who have made the theater at
once clinic and confessional.
Because you have guarded the sacred flame of quality in a
theater threatened by quantity production, because you have dared
to lead the crowd where others were content to follow it, I am
happy to confer upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of
Letters.
Mrs. Breese: Because, as Zona Gale, you have given Wis-
consin her place in the sun of letters ; because subtlety and
strength of mind, capacity for clairvoyant insight into the depths of
the human spirit, richness and range of social sympathy, delicacy
and determination of convictions, and artistic creativeness that
refuses to crystallize into a formula have combined to make you
a distinguished daughter of this University ; because the ministry
of your mind to this generation has achieved that union of
mjysticism and rationalism towards which valid religion and
valid education alike move, I am happy to confer upon you
the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.
Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, two colleges
whose doors opened early to the gentler sex, should be looking
about for worthy women on whom they may confer honorary
degrees. We feel sure faculties will continue to cast about for
outstanding individuals on whom by honoring, they can honor
themselves. In their search they will not forget women. There
are today a goodly number of women in the United States who
would honor any institution by carrying the degree of that institu-
tion, and their number will steadily increase as time goes on.
EDITORIAL 475
The Social Workers Conference
The members of the General Board of the Relief Society and
others who attended the National Conference of Social Work in
San Francisco have returned in a very enthusiastic state of mind.
They feel that the convention put over a program highly satis-
factory and beneficial to social workers throughout the nation.
Most of them seem to be deeply impressed with the message on
the New Morality by Dr. Miriam Van Waters, the new president
of the National Conference of Social Work. It was a message
to the effect that no one may rightly be charged with committing
crime until his inheritance, environment and particularly his own
individual personality is understood. When we do understand
these things we find "that the criminals of today are children who
have failed to grow up because of the bad handling of parents.
Wjhen we understand their actual life histories we see that evil
wears the face of a frightened child. * * * The new morality is
not merely a process of negation and suppression but it is the nat-
ural flowering of a vital human spirit. * * * It is not to terrorize
man but to vitalize him."
Another problem presented to the organization related to
health. It had to do with medical treatment for the masses. It
was stated that the poor received the best medical treatment free
of charge as do the wealthy who can afford the best. The people
who really suffer for proper medical care are of the middle class
who cannot meet the physician's fee.
It is a matter of gratification that so many members of the
General Board were able to attend the conference. President
Louise Y. Robison was there as a representative of the Traveler's
Aid Society, and made an address before the Traveler's Aid sec-
tion of the Conference. Mrs. Amy W. Evans, Mrs. Ethel R.
Smith and Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine represented the General
Board of the Relief Society. Mrs. Marcia K. Howells, who is
a member of the General Board, was also present at the session.
From the office force of social workers, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Wil-
liams, Miss Lydia Alder, Miss Helen Midgley and Miss Margaret
Davis were in attendance. Presidents of the following stake
Relief Society organizations were at the conference : Cache, En-
sign, Granite, Grant, Liberty, Logan, Pioneer, Salt Lake, San
Francisco, Utah ; and Bear River, Pocatello, and Wasatch Stakes
were represented bv stake workers. Such a representation is im-
portant to Relief Society workers for it is the only way they can
understand and follow the forward movements in social work.
In a later issue the Magazine will publish an article on the work
of the conference written by a member of the General Board who
was in attendance.
476 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Ruth
The Ruth of the Old Testament symbolizes fidelity to
family life. Wordsworth speaks of his Ruth as "a slighted
child." Whatever may have been the fate of the Ruths of past days,
they are decidedly to the fore at the present time. So much so
that it brings to mind once more Shakespeare's far-famed question,
what's in a name? a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
We are not inclined to quarrel with Shakespeare's philosophy,
yet we do recognize that Ruths in the United States seem to be
playing decidedly in luck.
There are, in our country, today, many women of force who
might go to Congress and represent their districts with efficiency
and dignity. But the Ruths seem to be in the public mind,
consequently we have the very singular and amusing result of
adding three new women to the House of Representatives last
year, all of whom bear the name of Ruth. Nor has it stopped
there. It was inevitable that a woman should be President of the
National Education Association this year. Two women ran for
the position but the candidate from Nebraska, Miss Ruth Pyrtle,
principal of Bancroft School, Lincoln, Nebraska, was the suc-
cessful candidate.
At least for a period of a year or two leadership has not
only extended to women but we have assuredly fallen into Ruth's
hands.
Bread
By Shirley Rei Gudmundsen
And some there are
That stand and serve
The bread of each day's necessity
To the hungry world,
And smile —
Knowing its hunger
And its need.
Ah — you wonder, then,
At the fine cruelty of excellence? —
That he who hungers most
Should serve the best !
Developing the Moral Judgment
A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY OF HOME AND SCHOOL
Radio Address Given over KSL in January, 1929
By Dean Milton Bennion, University of Utah
Many people, young and old, go wrong because they do not
think straight, and especially because they fail to foresee the con-
sequences of what they do. In every field of business and profes-
sional activity such foresight is, at least under modern conditions,
absolutely essential to success. Thus some moral phases of voca-
tional activities may come into the focus of attention because they
are inevitably associated with vocational success. In practice,
however, this works in opposite ways. With unscrupulous in-
dividuals it may lead to immoral practices on the assumption that
such practices further success.
Thought Controls the Moral Life
It is in the leisure time activities of individuals and of social
groups, however, that distinctly moral or immoral habits are likely
to be developed. It is also in these leisure time activities that con-
duct is apt to be most thoughtless. This may be because thinking
is hard work, and leisure time activities are generally sought as
means of relaxation. The remedy evidently lies in doing some
preliminary work in deciding upon the kind and the consequences
of the leisure time activities to be engaged in. If these are properly
selected, some of them, at least, may be safely indulged in as relax-
ation.
To what extent is systematic effort being puj; forth in the
home to train young people in moral thoughtf ulness ? This ques-
ton should be answered for each family, and probably can best
be answered by the parents if they will take time to check up on
themselves. We shall undertake to suggest what they may and
should do, with the help of their schools, toward developing this
phase of education.
There may be times when it is necessary to tell children dog-
matically what they must do or refrain from doing. These oc-
casions should, however, be reduced to a minimum. It should be
the general practice to guide older children, and youth especially,
by appealing to their understanding, by making clear to them the
probable consequences, both immediate and remote, of various
types of conduct and to develop in them a sense of responsibility
for these consequences as they affect both themselves and others.
It is evidently the lack of this training that is the cause of much
478 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of the misconduct of the present generation, so much complained of.
This statement is purposely made to include adults as well as
youths. Officers charged with the enforcement of the laws know
very well that much of the trouble is due to the thoughtlessness,
irresponsibility, and selfishness of grownups as well as of the
immature.
Drunkenness Comes From Thoughtlessness
By way of illustration of such conduct consider the case of
drunkenness. Has any one ever known of a young person who de-
liberately set out to become a drunkard? Or have all drunkards
become such inadvertently and as a rule by seeking sociability and
relaxation in their leisure time through moderate drinking with no
thought of becoming drunkards? A scientific answer to this ques-
tion might be sought by questionnaire and statistical methods.
Probably an offhand reply may be regarded by some as very un-
scientific ; but is there need of such scientific procedure to determine
what every experienced observer already knows ?
May it not be taken for granted that the beginnings of
drunkenness go hand in hand with thoughtlessness? In this con-
nection it should be noted also that any use whatsoever of intoxi-
cating drinks is to that extent intoxication, and that the foundation
habit which results in what is commonly designated as drunkenness
is formed during the period of early indulgences in such beverages.
All young people and older people who may be tempted to such in-
dulgence, should be led to understand and picture clearly to them-
selves the evil consequences both to themselves and to others of the
use of alcoholic beverages. In pre-prohibition times the physiologi-
cal consequences were taught in the schools. Since then evidently
too much dependence has been placed upon the mere force of the
law, which force is greatly weakened when numerous people fail to
see the justice of the law and the beneficent effects of its general
observance. It* is these effects that should be systematically taught in
both home and school. The physiological effects are, of course,
important, but manifestly less so than are the economic, mental,
and social effects of this type of self-indulgence.
Any person of ordinary intelligence and reasonable degree of
self-control who can be led to picture in imagination the ruinous
consequences of such indulgences will gladly obey the prohibition
laws of the state and the nation. When this result can be attained
through the combined educational efforts of the home, school, and
church, the problem of law enforcement, in this particular, will be
solved. Bootleggers cannot do business without patrons.
Morality Arises from Self -Restraint
The same method may be applied to the problem of sex rela-
tions, with emphasis, however, upon the positive values attainable
DEVELOPING THE MORAL JUDGMENT 479
through such relations when properly made as permanent life
relations and subject to proper restraints — such restraints as will
conserve the highest good of the race and the lasting satisfaction of
the individuals immediately concerned. Young people should be
led to think of their own future possibilities as life companions of
persons of the opposite sex and, in this connection, of the possible
joys of home and family relationships. In the light of these pros-
pects the destructive forces of prostitution and other illicit sex re-
lations become almost self-evident. Yet there may be occasions
when it is advisable to direct attention specifically to the evil con-
sequences of unchastity. Because this is generally regarded as a
very delicate subject and one that calls for great wisdom in treat-
ment it has been much neglected both in the home and in the school .
It is now conceded in theory that the home should be primarily re-
sponsible for this phase of education, and that the school should
supplement home training and instruction as best it can.*
How to Train in Truthfulness
A moral education problem of universal concern to parents is
that of training young people in habits of truthfulness. Can this
be done successfully by mere command to be truthful or by the fear
of punishment for lying? Students of this question are thoroughly
convinced that it cannot. On the contrary, fear of punishment may
have the reverse effect. Children will very commonly acquire the
habit of lying as a protection against punishment. Many con-
firmed liars are doubtless made in this way. Fear of the natural
and inevitable consequences of wrong doing doubtless has a proper
place in moral training, but fear of humanly imposed consequences
which there is a chance of escaping by lying is likely to be more
harmful than helpful to moral development.
Training the child to be truthful calls first for a relationship
of love and confidence between parent and child together with a
developing understanding on the part of the child, as he matures,
of why it is wrong to lie. The reasons grow out of the social con-
sequences of lying on the one hand, and of truth telling, on the
other. It is easy for youths and older children to understand these
consequences ; how lying tends to break down confidences and un-
dermine the foundations of all business and satisfactory social re-
lations. The proper test of any type of conduct is to consider its
social consequences were it made universal, and then to apply
Kant's fundamental principle of conduct: "So act that thou canst
will as a rational creature that thy maxim become a universal law
of conduct;" or try the golden rule. Kant's form of stating this
* Both parents and teachers may obtain helpful suggestions from the
American Social Hygiene Association, 370 Seventh Avenue, New York City.
Some bulletins of this organization are sent free on request, while others
are sold on a cost or less than cost basis.
480 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
principle may be too ponderous for the immature minds ; the golden
rule may not appeal to a selfish mind ; but surely any normal mind
of high school age can understand what would happen to society,
and especially to business, if every one became a liar. With this
assumption in mind he should readily arrive at a judgment of why
it is wrong to lie. The same procedure may lead to approval and
commendation of truth telling as a moral standard. It is abso-
lutely essential to human welfare and to social progress. There
remains, of course, the task in this as in other cases, of develop-
ing the feelings of the child in such a way that he will habitually
act in agreement with his moral judgment.
Respect for property rights and the prohibition of theft may
be treated in similar fashion. Children very early and apparently
very naturally assert their rights to their own property although
they do not so readily recognize similar rights of others. In this
case there is especial need of developing in each child understand-
ing of the golden rule as applied to property ; this rule may later be
extended to other forms of conduct where its application is less
obvious.
Attaining Harmony at Home
A home problem of almost universal concern is that of in-
harmonious relations between children in the home. It is not
unusual to hear a mother tell of the terrible quarrels and hateful
attitudes manifest on the part of a fourteen year old boy toward a
sister near the same age, and to note the consolation that
comes to many such mothers when they are told that theirs
is no unusual family experience. Perhaps the greatest com-
fort to parents, however, is to be given some assurance that
the children will probably outgrow it. The facts seem to be
that they may or they may not; something should be done
to help them outgrow this habit, for such it often becomes.
It is so much an outgrowth of deep seated feeling that
development of rational judgment with respect to it, on the
part of the child, seems almost hopeless. The best chance
of doing this, however, is not usually in the heat of passion
on the part of either the parent or the child; nor is such
judgment best developed in public or in the presence of the
exciting object. It had better be undertaken in private with
one child at a time and in moments of emotional tranquility.
Persistent efforts of this sort may, in due time, make an
impression. Meantime measures of some sort need to be
taken to prevent perpetual family turmoil, serious damaging
of dispositions, both of children and of parents, and other
possible disastrous consequences to mental health. This may
make necessary on occasion firm commands to abstain from
this variety of torture. When children do not get on welt
DEVELOPING THE MORAL JUDGMENT 481
together there can be at least some degree of separation.
They may be given separate, individual work to do until they
can learn the value of harmonious, agreeable cooperation.
The punishment of requiring them to play separately, in case
other companions are not available, may be sufficient to
stimulate a wholesome effort to be agreeable. Throughout
it must be remembered that such measures should be only
temporary means of keeping the peace, and that children
must learn ultimately to work and to play together in the
spirit of friendly cooperation.
The Basis for Thrift Instruction
Another phase of character for which the home is primar-
ily responsible is that of thrift. This too calls for development
of the moral judgment in connection with training in right
habits. The practical training is, of course, at the foundation,
and is essential to the development of real meaningful judg-
ments concerning the nature and the value of thrift. It in-
volves honest earning, reasonable savings properly secured,
and wise spending.
Laws prohibiting child labor are enacted to prevent any
person or corporation from using a child as a means to some
other end than that of his own greatest good. This is a
legal application to children of Kant's principle: "Treat
every person as an end in himself, never as a means." The
child labor laws are, however, not to be understood as meaning
that all kinds of labor are bad for children. Children must
learn to work much as they learn other things. By this
means the child acquires habits of industry and individual
responsibility. He may learn very early to be responsible
for easy tasks ; to begin with, for instance, the care of his
own clothing as he changes morning and evening. To have
a place for his clothing, and of course, for his toys or other
property, and to put things in their proper places, is a founda-
tion habit in thrift, since it tends to conserve these things and,
more important, still, it conserves time, often the time of others
as well as his own. The reason for this type of thrift may
well be brought to his attention before he enters the elementary
school. When this training has been well done in the home,
and the habit has been somewhat generalized through
thoughtful attention to the reasons therefor, the teacher of
beginners will have occasion to be thankful. Many such
teachers have to assume responsibility for training that right-
fully belongs to parents. The delinquencies of the home
in this respect are sometimes so far reaching as to put a
damper upon the otherwise unsullied joys of a honeymoon,
482 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
when the slovenly habits of one of the newly wedded pair
may first become known to the other.
Thrift Developed by Industry
The care of clothing and toys is, however, only the begin-
ning of thrift. The child should early learn something of
cooperative activities and responsibilities through training
in doing his part, a part appropriate to his age and strength,
in carrying on the business of the household. Training in
habits of work and responsibility is best secured by definite
assignment of regular tasks and making it impossible for the
individual to shirk the task assigned him. This training in
work habits should be supplemented with insight into the
necessity of work and the justice of each individual's doing
his part. This is generally made easier if work is used as a
means of training in all phases of thrift, including saving and
wise spending. It is much better for the child that he shall
earn his own pocket money than that he should have it
handed him outright or that he should beg it, as many children
do. A child, may be instructed early in the most profitable
methods of saving as well as of spending. This practical
economics as applied to the individual may be taught in the
home and the foundation laid for reasonable and honest
expenditures in adult life. The all too prevalent tendency
of Americans to spend beyond their incomes or on such a
close margin as to make no provision for living through non-
employment and sickness periods may be due in some measure,
at least, to want of proper early training in thrift habits and
instruction in the principles of thrift.
Knowledge of Principle Essential
It is the purpose in citing these typical cases of moral
training to call attention to the fact that while training in
moral habits is basic and essential in all phases of moral edu-
cation, this alone is insufficient. If desirable habits are to
carry over into adult life and if the individual is to adjust
successfully to new situations, he must have insight into
the moral principles upon which his habits rest or ought to
rest. He should have practice also in reaching conclusions
of his own as to the Tightness or wrongness of any proposed
action. Mere habit is often wholly inadequate to cope with
new or complex situations. In this respect ethics is not unlike
other practical sciences. In the various applications of physi-
cal science to practical affairs knowledge of fundamental
underlying principles is essential. A mechanically trained
person may easily learn to operate a complex machine so long
as it runs in routine fashion, but if anything goes wrong or
DEVELOPING THE MORAL JUDGMENT 483
new conditions arise requiring new adjustments of machinery,
there is call for the services of one who understands the princi-
ples upon which the machinery works.
Life is full of new, complex, and difficult situations.
It is fundamental in moral character that the individual shall
make his own moral decisions. He may advise with others
concerning his moral problems, he cannot, however, delegate
his moral responsibility. Should he not, therefore, be trained
systematically and thoroughly to exercise his moral judgment
and thereby be enabled to decide upon the right course of
action, when such decisions are called for?
Morals a Part of Religion
A system of morals is rightly a part of every great religion.
Every system of morals taught as a phase of religion, however,
should have the added support of reason and experience. No
devotee of a system of religion should hesitate to apply this
test to moral precepts taught him dogmatically. Authority in
morals should not be at variance with reason and experience.
It often happens, however, that one who has been brought up
on dogmatic religion, including morals, comes to be a doubter
of the religious dogmas he has been taught; and, having no
other basis for his system of moral precepts than association
with religious dogma, his disposition is to set aside his moral
precepts also. Thus many individuals have gone on the rocks
morally when they might have been saved from this fate by
early instruction in the rational basis of conduct.
Recompense
Life is a path of ups and downs —
Now the sun shines, now it frowns ;
Yet from that low descending cloud,
Black and hanging like a shroud,
Falls the cool refreshing rain
On the dry and thirsty plain ;
And from out the soul's deep night
God's path is seen with keener sight.
Recompense
By Estelle Webb Thomas
Miss Anne Hallowell was thirty-five years old; and even i'l
she had wished to conceal the fact, which she never did, but which
women since Eve have been accredited with doing, it would have
been as impossible a feat in Mapleton as to have tried to keep
secret the year Columbus discovered America, or the equally
important year that the Mapleton dam went out.
For one thing there was always old Granny Blevins, who
at any time could push her spectacles up on her forehead, count
up on her fingers and say, "Let me think — Anne's thirty-five,
twenty-first December. My, that was a blizzardy night! I well
remember how Mr. Hallowell came a-stampin' and a-knockin' at
my front door — ," and there wasn't a young matron in town who
had not said, "Let's see, now, Anne Hallowell's from December to
June — or some such matter — older than I am. My goodness,
who'd have thought that Anne would have been the old maid of the
bunch!"
And the children — it had become a formula to ask Miss Anne's
age each fall when school opened, as though she were a stranger
of whom one had never heard and then give the inevitable answer,
"My land ! You that old ? Why, you're as old as my mother, and
purty near as old as my dad. Ain't it funny you ain't never
got married!"
Miss Anne would listen abstractedly and murmur, "Isn't,
Jack, not ain't !" While perhaps some adoring little girl smoothed
over Jack's crudities with the whisper, "I'm a-going to be an old
maid school-teacher when I get big, just like you, Miss Anne!"
And then Phil Morton knew. "Two years, two months, two
weeks, and two days older than you, Anne!" He had said it so
often that it said itself now, whenever he thought of Anne. He
had said it the day he was old enough to go to school, when Anne
had had to wait an interminable two years. He had said it when
they were high school sweethearts, and on that memorable occasion
when Anne had shyly promised to marry him when they both
got old enough. He had said it again, ruefully, when Anne had
broken that childish engagement and said without bitterness that
she would be an old, old lady before she would be free to marry,
and he had said, "I'll still be two years, two months, two weeks
and two days older than you, Anne, so it will be all right."
But Anne had been firm and Phil had for a time brooded
darkly, nursing what he thought was a badly broken heart. But
a young man in that romantic condition is an easy mark for Cupid,
RECOMPENSE 485
and not without some surprise Phil found himself engaged to
be married to pretty, round-faced little Alma Jennings. Alma
was a good wife, a model wife, in fact ; and if Phil's conduct was
not always irreproachable, it was not for want of wifely counsel.
Of course, Phil was happily married. He would have been the last
person to deny it ; but sometimes, sitting in church by his plump
little wife and three round-faced children, he would glance specu-
latively across the aisle at Anne's clear profile, her dark eyes
intent on the preacher, her brown cheeks flushed, and wonder,
idly, what life with Anne would have been.
As she wearily plodded through melting snow-puddles under
naked shade trees, on this afternoon in early spring, Anne Hallo-
well was thinking of those long-gone days. It was seldom in
these later years that she had time or even inclination for such
reminiscencing, but it had all been resurrected today by the return
to his home town for one brief day and night of the famous ex-
plorer and scientist, Dr. Stanley Davies. "The fellows" were
giving him a "Do" at the town hall that evening, and he had
called at her schoolroom to see Anne at recess, and incidentally
to renew the offer he had made so long ago. Eighteen years!
She had been just seventeen when young Stanley Davies, fresh
from college, with many honors and more ambitions, had been
attracted by her distinctive charm and courted her with the same
intensity he gave to anything that claimed his attention.
But although she had felt flattered, and any girl in Mapleton
might have thought herself fortunate to have captured Stanley,
it had been Phil who had held her girlish fancy then. And she
had never seen Stanley since the night of her regretful refusal
until today. Today in the dusty, prosaic schoolroom, with the
cold, pale spring sunlight through the murky window bringing
out all the lines in his clever face, the portly, successful man,
incredibly matured in mind and body, who had called with no
intention save the friendly renewal of an interesting acquaintance-
ship, had, as unexpectedly to himself as to Anne, rather diffidently
and tentatively, renewed his boyish proposal instead.
Anne was so different from what he had been expecting!
So complete a fulfilment of what her vivid girlhood had promised.
How the life of an "old maid school-teacher" in Mapleton could
have so developed her, he could not imagine; but somehow, this
Anne seemed just as desirable to the middle-aged scientist as that
long-ago maid had been to the callow college youth. He took
the second denial more philosophically, however, than he had the
first, and assured Anne warmly, more than once, that he was at
her service if ever the time came when he might prove his
friendship. He little guessed, nor did Anne, how soon she would
ask him to redeem his promise.
A sumptuous automobile, better than those commonly in use
486 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
in Mapleton, sped by, splashing mud on Anne as it passed near the
unpaved sidewalk. Anne had a brief glimpse of a beautiful,
discontented face before it was gone. The doctor's wife was
nome again.
Almost simultaneously there came from the little corner drug
store a shriek of laughter followed by a lower chuckle in a boy's
voice. Through the open doorway she could see the doctor's son,
Richard, absorbed in the attractions of bold-eyed, painted Peg
Bunting. Peg, a product of the vague section known as "the
other side of the track," had been a problem all through the brief
period of her school days, and almost from her babyhood had
enjoyed the title of "fastest girl in Mapleton." She was older,
and how infinitely wiser in the sort of knowledge in which she
specialized than Richard Weston, and it was with a feeling of
almost physical nausea that Miss Anne saw the boyish, high-bred
face so near and so absorbed in the cheaply pretty, sensual one
so temptingly near his own. There was a stricken expression
on Anne Hallowell's own face as she went slowly on down the
dreary sidewalk. It was true then, what she had heard whispered
or hinted with giggles and winks and meaning glances, that Peg
Bunting had "caught" Richard Weston.
Little Richard, whose birth had meant for her a travail far
greater than his mother had known, whose baby face had always
so strangely stirred her, .and whose every childish scrawl, with
all the little gifts that proved his devotion, she had treasured during
his first years of school. She remembered jealously when other
interests, incidental to his normal boyish development, had sup-
planted her in his affection. He still spoke nicely and courteously
when he met her as was to be expected from the son of Dick
Weston and aristocratic Elizabeth Van Veering; but it had been
years since he had actually seen her.
As she turned into her own gate and entered the little white
house which was the only home she had ever known, Anne's face
automatically cleared. Her step was brisk and her smile warm as
she stepped into the little living room. Her mother, as usual,
sat by the fire, a knitted shawl around her narrow shoulders, her
work basket by her side; but her thin, white hands were idle in
her lap. At Anne's entrance she looked up with a worried frown.
"Anne, can you pick up my stitch for me? I must have dropped
it hours ago, and haven't been able to find it since; I'll never catch
up with my knitting!"
That accounted for her unaccustomed idleness. Anne could
hardly remember a waking moment in the last ten years that those
thin, white fingers had not been knitting — relentlessly knitting a
cocoon, within which they were both being shut from life and
reality. It had been fifteen years since Mrs. Hallowell's bodily
health had failed, ten since her mind had gradually returned to
RECOMPENSE 487
childhood and she had become Anne's first and almost only con-
sideration in life. Anne picked up the lost stitch now, thus re-
storing her equanimity, then changed into a gingham house dress
and went methodically about her preparations for their early
supper.
She toasted bread over the coals her mother had been nursing
to the right heat for the last half hour, made tea, and spreading
with a clean, white cloth the low table which a few moments
before had held her mother's work and the pictures over which
she liked to pore as a rest from her knitting, she set it with delicate
old china — the tea, toast, and a jar of marmalade. Her mother,
with the appetite of a delicate child, merely pecked at the food,
and Anne, in her sad abstraction, ate scarcely more.
The meal over, she gently washed the wax-like face and
hands, brushed the still lovely hair, and carried the little, old
child as tenderly up the stairs as ever mother took an ailing child
to bed.
Down in her living room again, Miss Anne hesitated a moment,
then went swiftly to the telephone in the corner and called the
doctor's residence. "Dr. Weston?" she asked in a crisp, im-
personal voice when her call was answered.
"Mrs. Weston," came the answer in the soft, cultivated drawl
of the doctor's wife, "the doctor is preparing to go out this
evening. Was it something professional?"
"Yes, and urgent !" replied Anne, quickly. "May I speak to
him for a moment ?'"
"I'll see." Mrs Weston's tone was icy, but Anne waited,
holding the receiver patiently until her message should be delivered.
"You, Dick?" she said, when presently his unmistakable deep
tones came over the wire. "This is Anne. I must see you tonight.
Can you come at once?" She did not think to apologize for inter-
rupting his plans for the evening, nor did he notice the omission ;
he supposed her mother was suffering one of her frequent nervous
hysterias ; and with a brief, "Yes, at once," hung up the receiver.
It seemed but a few moments to Anne, waiting by the open
fire, before his step sounded in the little hall. And indeed he
had hurried. The thought of Anne facing those rending scenes
alone was always terrible to him. At .sight of her calm, pale
face and the quiet room his own face expressed astonishment.
"What is the matter?" he asked almost sharply. "Where is your
mother?"
"Asleep. It isn't Mother," said Anne in her low voice.
"Sit down, Dick, I want to talk to you." The doctor obeyed
automatically, never taking his eyes from her face. Anne
leaned forward. "Dick," she said, her tone almost accusing,
"do you know where Richard is tonight?" The doctor paled
and a worried frown creased his brow.
488 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
"No," he confessed, after a moment ; "I wish I did. Some-
thing has — Richard is changed. I — can't seem to get at him
any more. I am away so much — and he seems to be always
out or going out when I am at home." His frown deepened.
"If his mother was ever home — she came this afternoon, and
you'd have thought he would have wanted to spend this even-
ing, at least, with her ; but he made some excuse and was gone
as soon as dinner was over."
It had been a relief to pour out his worry to Anne, and
he had spoken with scarcely a pause; but now for the first
time he seemed to sense the significance of her question.
"Why, Anne, what — do you know where he is?"
"Didn't you know, Dick, that he has been — been — " she
hesitated for a word — "been seen constantly with the Bunting
girl for the past month?" Nothing but Anne's voice and the
expression in her deep eyes softened the bald statement.
The doctor whitened. Richard ! His clean, fresh lad with
his frank, innocent eyes !
"Not that — that — bad girl across the tracks?" he almost
whispered.
"That girl," said Anne, her own face white. "Dick, we've
got to get him away! I couldn't bear — nothing must happen
to him. He's — he's got it in him to be something. Dick, listen !
All afternoon I've been thinking — you know Stanley Davies is
here?"
"I was going to the banquet for him," said the doctor,
impatiently, "but what about Richard?"
"Richard has always been interested in exploration —
crazy about it — read everything he could get hold of on the
subject," said Anne swiftly, as though she was his mother.
And indeed, she knew far more of Richard's mind and tastes
than his mother did, and went on when the doctor made as
though to interrupt her, "Stanley told me today he would al-
ways grant me any favor — surely, Dick, he would take Richard
with him on this trip he's just undertaking!"
"To Africa!" the doctor gasped.
"Yes, to Africa ! O, Dick !" Anne was pleading, her lovely
eyes imploring his, her slim hands clutching his arm. "Can't
you see? It has to be something drastic? Richard is too fine
to be lost. If he only had — " she hesitated, then plunged on,
"Don't misunderstand me — but Richard needed more home
life; he hasn't been safely anchored, Dick!"
"As if I didn't know that !" The doctor's face was bitter.
"But she'll never consent to let him go, Anne. Although she
only sees him for a few months each summer, she'll exercise
her divine prerogative as his mother to prevent that — even if
Stanley would take him," he added, doubtfully.
"I'll arrange it with Stanley!" Anne spoke confidently,
RECOMPENSE 489
and added urgently, "Go find him, Dick, and try it! His
mother couldn't object when she sees how things are!"
When the doctor had gone, Miss Anne again had re-
course to the telephone. Dr. Davies was surprised and in-
trigued at receiving a call from Miss Hallowell just as he was
leaving for the city hall. No, it would not be at all incon-
venient to call at her home on his way, he assured her,
wondering if by any chance she had really changed her mind.
Well, his offer stood — but it would really take a lot of re-
adjusting of his plans if he were to take a woman along on
this next expedition. Still, Anne — a vision of her calm,
understanding face — her deep eyes, rose before him, and he
hurried into his overcoat.
It was near midnight when the Hallowell doorbell rang
for the third time that evening. Anne still sat before the fire,
a book in her lap but her eyes on the coals. There was an
air of waiting about her and a controlled tenseness in her
quiet figure. But it was her usual serene face she turned to
the Westons when they entered, father and son, and one
glance at their faces assured her of what she wished to know.
"Well, we saw Davies, and he offered Richard a chance
to go with him to Africa — even offered to stay over a day and
wait for him !" The doctor said all in one breath, and then
looked at Richard, standing rather awkwardly in the back-
ground. The boy stepped forward.
"Miss Anne," he said, .c!iyly, twirling his cap about in his
hands as he spoke, and fc r the first time in years really ap-
pearing to see her, his frank eyes even looking the same adora-
tion which used to be so inexpressibly dear to her, "Dad says
you are the one to thank for this — this chance. It's great! It's
something I've wanted all my life! I — I — surely appreciate it
— and I can — tell you — I won't forget it!" His speech was
painful and halting, but his look was something Anne Hallo-
well cherished to her dying day.
"His mother is going to Europe with her mother and
sister for the summer and perhaps longer," said the doctor,
with a significant look, when Anne had put the boy more at
his ease with some quiet, gracious reply. "So of course, she
won't miss him as she would otherwise have done. It was
really to see if I would consent to Richard's going that she
came back so early." He paused, and Anne thought of the
selfish woman who could not endure the hardships of the coun-
try town winters for the sake of her husband and son, and who
was now going to fail them for the brief, beautiful country
summer.
"Mother was disappointed that I preferred going with Dr.
Davies to a trip to Europe with Grandmother and her," in-
terposed Richard, "but she doesn't understand what this
490 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
i
means to me; you — you understand more about kids, Miss
Anne, I guess because you've taught school so long! I'm afraid
Dad is going to be lonely, though," he added, as a contrite
afterthought, "all alone for a year or more; you'll not forget
him, will you, Miss Anne?"
"I'll not forget him, Richard," promised Miss Anne, and
the look she gave the elder Richard was recompense and
balm for all the long and arid years before him.
Around the Bend
By Henry Catmull
Says my kind friend, "I cannot see
What there is in this life for me ;
You see my hair is getting gray,
Like danger signals in my way.
I've labored hard from day to day,
Still found it hard to pay my way;
For me the future, right ahead,
Brings to my soul that fear and dread."
Along the road our way we wend —
We cannot see around the bend;
One calls, "Stop quick, or we will go
Headlong into the depths below."
The driver tries to calm our fears ;
In confidence he firmly steers
Right up unto the seeming end,
When, lo! he swings around the bend.
We travel on; no fear we feel,
But trust to him who holds the wheel. /
Sail on, sail on ; there is no end,
But scenes of beauty round the bend.
The great Creator made the plan
And shapes the destinies of man ;
Then put your trust in him, my friend —
See the glory around the bend.
Walt's Luck
By Pawah Torrido
Walt had never felt quite so lonely in his life as he did this
evening when the lowering sun warned him that it was time to
think of making camp. Nor had he ever felt the unseen prying
of hostile eyes so keenly as it gnawed at his subconsciousness
now.
Indians !
For two hours he had felt them watching him, he called
himself a fool because, for all his skill in detecting the signs of
pursuit, he had not actually seen or heard a suspicious thing. Yet
he kept feeling that Indians were following him, just out of
sight, ever alert to know exactly where he was, and very much
aware that he was alone.
He was near the camp-site that he and Jim had selected for
this night. Another fifteen minutes would bring him to the little
spring in the hollow. He had succeeded in keeping to his schedule
so that before another camping time came he would probably
overtake Pete Thurber and Dick Hansen.
But now he was alone and it was time to camp, and he felt
that Indians were about. He felt, too, that in spite of his six
feet and strong muscles, -he was very much a lonely boy.
He wished that he dared push his team hard enough to cover
the miles still between him and his friends ahead, but he knew that
the last two days he had kept them to a pace that now demanded
rest. Besides, if Indians were near, he would be no safer driving
over the rough road in the dark than he would be in his lonely
camp.
Grimly he urged the weary team toward the spring. Warily
he kept his iface ahead and his eyes turning, turning, seeking
something tangible on which to base his fears. If he were sure
that Indians were about, he thought he would feel better. A
real danger was easier to meet than an imaginary one.
Why should he worry about the Indians, anyhow? He asked
himself this question and answered that they had never hurt
him, that this was a part of Nevada in which they seldom made
trouble, and that his load of freight, so valuable to white men, was
not what Indians prized.
Then he chuckled to himself, "They might not want the
gold, but I've got enough hair for two good scalps, and a mighty
fine team of horses, and a good wagon and camp outfit. Besides,
I'm not I so sure they wouldn't want the gold if they knew about it.
For most Indians have had dealings enough with whites to know
492 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
that it will buy anything a white man has. And Fve got a
good gun/'
He patted it with one hand as it lay on the seat beside him,
and for a moment it gave him a sense of security. Then he
thought again, "Yes, a gun they'd each like to own, but it wouldn't
save my scalp because while I got one with it an Indian that
already has a gun would get me with him, or one would with an
arrow. Well, I guess my famous luck will hold. It has before."
Three days before, as he and Jim had blithely started out
together with their valuable loads of freight, Jim's younger horse
shied at a blown piece of paper just enough to throw one front
wheel into a deep rut that Walt had carefully avoided and a
loud crack of splintering hardwood had reached Walt's ears.
He promtly stopped and came back to help Jim appraise
the damage.
It didn't look so bad at first, and they had worked cheerfully
reinforcing the splintered spoke; so they thought it would carry
the load through this time.
But after only an hour of driving the same wheel had struck
a rock hidden in the deep dust at the bottom of a rut, and two
more spokes had given away. Again Walt came back to his
companion and they stood silently staring at the wheel.
Walt thought that if Jim hadn't been counselor to the bishop
at home, Jim might have said a plenty. His face went white at
first, and then it turned so red it was almost purple. Finally he
expelled a great sigh, which must have compensated in part for
the swearing he had held in, and remarked, "No telling how long
it will take to get a decent job done on that. Maybe a week back
in that town."
"That blacksmith you talked with yesterday said he didn't
have any new wheels on hand, didn't he?" Walt asked.
"Yeh. Too much freighting over these roads with heavy
loads of gold and supplies. It's hard on wheels. Guess I'll
unhitch and ride one of the horses in and see if I can't borrow
a good wheel or a whole wagon till I can get my load in a
safe place. Might as well make the best of it.- Darn the luck!"
Walt grinned at the mild "cuss" and then looked thoughtful
on his own account.
"Brace up my axle ; I'll let you use my wheel to go in with
if you say so, Jim."
Jim looked speculatively at him, as though estimating his
size and courage. Then he asked, "Going to wait for me to get
fixed up ?"
"Well, I dunno," Walt replied, "Hansen and Thurber didn't
get started till late yesterday afternoon and my team's better than
either 'one of theirs. I might catch them; let's see, about day after
tomorrow, I guess."
WALTS LUCK 493
"Think you could? Be pretty hard on the team. You've grot
a good load and the roads are tough."
Briefly then they discussed the chances, where the other two
would probably have camped last night, how far they would get
today, and where Walt would have to camp in order to gain
enough each day to overtake them so soon.
Finally they mentioned Indians and Jim shook his head.
"Don't believe you'd better tackle it alone, Walt. Your folks
sort of look to me to help you along, and if I let you go off
alone this way and anything was to happen, they couldn't help
thinking it was partly my fault."
"But Jim, we're both nearly strapped for money and got
just food enough for the trip. And everything costs like the
dickens in these mining towns. I could let you have a little
extra to last you over if I go now; but if we both stayed on,
things wouldn't look so good."
"That's true, too; but I hate to think of the country you'd
be driving through tomorrow and you having to camp alone
there. Indians would be sure to get you."
Walt laughed confidently. "Well, I've never had much
trouble keeping just one jump ahead of any Indian I ever met so
far. I'm lucky that way, you know."
"Yes, I know you've got more brains than most, but Injuns
is Injuns, anyhow. And what if something happened to your
wagon or horses, so you didn't catch up with 'em as soon as
we've figured? Every day would take you further into Indian
country — alone."
"My -wagon's practically new and my team's in the best con-
dition. I think I'd better try it. The Indians haven't been bad
lately, so I guess I could) go all the way alone safe enough. I'll
tell the folks you tried to make me stay and couldn't, if anything
should happen."
Jim knew that when Walt made up his mind he was hard
to change, and he knew also that the boy had never failed yet to
meet any emergency that had come in his varied experiences. From
Salt Lake to the Muddy and freighting both East and West, in
peace or Indian trouble, Walt had won a reputation for being
cool headed in time of danger, though he was not one to seek it out.
With Indians or with whites, from the days when he herded sheep
barefooted on the hills, he had never been known to pick a fight
or to stop fighting if the other fellow started .it, until that
other acknowledged defeat. He had lived few years, but they
had been full ones, and he had already proved himself a man in
action as well as in inches.
Jim thought of all this and argued no more, but refused
Walt's offer of a wheel so that he might lose no more time. The
boy insisted upon dividing his little store of wages with Jim, and
494 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
drove merrily off, whistling, as Jim unhitched his team and
started back to the town.
By sunset yesterday Walt had made the distance they had
figured he would need, and slept comfortably in a deserted pros-
pector's cabin.
Today, too, he had gauged his distance and. his team's
strength accurately, and now he approached the second camp-
site of their plan. It was three hours since he had stopped to
examine a camping place which showed fresh signs, and had
found in several places the print of a wider horseshoe than the
average, and knew it for the off hind foot of Hansen's bay. He
found, too, a few tiny heaps of tobacco ashes, which he was sure
came from Thurber's pipe; for Thurber, as he said, had been
born in the South with a pipe in his mouth instead of a silver
spoon.
Knowing that he had gained so much on them reassured
Walt that he would have no trouble in overtaking them tomorrow
if he started a'. little earlier and drove a little faster than he knew
they would. Yet, in less than an hour after he had passed their
camping place of the night before, this eery depression had settled
upon him, and he could not but believe that he was being followed
by Indians.
As he called "Whoa" to his team and took a long careful
look about, Jim's parting injunction seemed to ring again in his
ears. It had been said in a tone of banter, but Walt and 'Jim
both recognized the seriousness beneath the tone.
"Better remember your prayers, Walt."
Walt stopped as he was about to jump from his wagon and
bowed his head a moment.
Lifting it again, he shook it, as though to rid himself of his
fears, and with a smile and a friendly slap upon his horse's rump,
started whistling again as he had not done the last two hours. If
Indians were about he would try hard to take care of himself.
If >they were not, he need not make himself miserable by worrying
about them.
Cheerfully, then, but with his eyes ever alert for a stump that
moved, or listening for an animal cry that didn't fit the locality or
the time of evening, or that sounded unnatural or was answered
too promptly, Walt made his simple camp.
Carefully and almost tenderly, he cared for his team, saw that
they did not drink too much, let them eat grain while he gathered
an extra large supply of firewood and made his fire, then led them
once more to the spring. Instead of hobbling them and turning
them loose tonight, he staked them. But he took particular pains
to keep his cheerful whistling going and to move with leisurely
confidence as though he had not the slightest suspicion of enemies.
Then he cooked his frugal supper, made appetizing by the
WALTS LUCK 495
day's hard drive and his own healthy youth. It was dusk now and
he fancied once, twice, perhaps that the hooting of owls was just
a trifle too frequent, but it seemed so natural and appropriate in
this tree-clad hollow -with the hills hiding the mountains by their
nearness, that he could not be sure.
Just once he saw something suspicious out of the corner of
his eye. A stump seemed to melt into the tree beside it, as though
an Indian had been playing stump and had quietly slipped behind
the big tree. The dimness of the light and the flicker of his own
cheerful camp fire made Walt uncertain, though a cold drop of
water seemed to trickle! up and down his spine, defying the law
of gravitation in obeying the law of premonition. His hair
prickled, too.
He did not whistle after that.
But he finished his supper to the last bite, washed his simple
dishes, saw that his team were all right and then came back
to the fire. It was flaming quite brightly still, and he knew that
as the darkness closed about his camp he was by its light revealed
more and more clearly to any lurking observers who might covet
his team, his freight, or his scalp. That was why he was so
careful to keep every motion steady and even the expression of
his face calm. If keen and hostile eyes were observing him, he
wanted them to get no idea that he was afraid. For the one who
was afraid was doomed, if he let his fear be known.
It promised to be quite a warm night, but he took all the
bedding he had used on the trip out to keep comfortable in the
cold air of the higher mountains, and carried it to a spot near the
fire. There he fussed for a long time getting it ready and then
sat quietly by the fire until the flames had died and the coals
gave out only a faint, soft glow.
At last, when he thought sufficient of the slowly dragging
minutes had passed without anything happening, he threw some
fresh wood upon the fire and moved to his bed.
While he had been making it, he had rolled his gun inside
a blanket, feeling secure so long as the Indians knew he was awake,
and laid it by the bed. Now, before his fresh fuel had time to
catch fire, he lay prone beside his bed, rolled one of the quilts
into a long bundle under the top cover, to simulate a human form,
and grasping gun and blanket, slowly and silently worked his way,
snakelike, toward his wagon. Under it he passed, but did not
pause, until it was between him and the glow from the fire.
Thea he rose to hands and knees and went on cautiously till he
reached the nearest thick bush. There with the bush between
himself and the fire he paused to look back.
The fresh fuel was beginning to blaze. It showed the bed
nearby, with an irregular hump down the middle suggesting the
recumbent form of a man. A little farther off the wagon showed
496 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
less distinctly, and in the quiet he could hear the peaceful munch-
ing of the team.
Thus far his plan seemed to have worked well. He was
positive that his maneuvers in going to bed, throwing fuel on the
fire, and sneaking away before it had time to blaze had been
successful in getting him thus far without being observed. He
thought from his knowledge of Indians that they would not
attack until he had been in bed at least an hour, but his chief
difficulty lay ahead.
For he had not the slightest knowledge as to where the
Indians would be. They might be grouped all together in any
direction. They might be all asleep save one who would be
watching. Or they might be scattered and creeping slowly upon
the camp where he supposedly lay just dropping into the first
sound sleep of youth and weariness.
Wherever they were, he was as liable to come upon one or
all of them as to miss them. So now he hesitated and tried to
guess in which direction they would least likely be. But the
uncertainties of the situation were so great that at last he gave
up trying to decide and guessed that the next move in the affair
must depend upon what his friends called "Walt's Luck."
If it were "luck" that had guided him thus far in his ad-
venturous life, he at least carried no symbols of it. No rabbit's
foot or swastika or other emblem of "luck" was ever found in his
pockets. Instead, now, when his life hung upon the chance of
which direction he crept during the next few minutes, he merely
bowed his head once more and thought a prayer.
Then he selected a bush a good way up one of the hills that
partially surrounded the spring and softly worked his way toward
it. Reaching it at last, he breathed another prayer, this time
of thankfulness for his having chanced upon no prowling Indian
on the way, and throwing the blanket about his shoulders and
grasping his gun, he waited — and waited — and waited.
The young moon had set before he left the camp fire. The
stars were growing brighter. For a long time no movement or
sound came to him from his camp. Even the horses ceased their
munching, and the blaze from the fire, though still casting a slight
glow upon objects about it, had almost died away. The little
spring did not give enough water to ripple, and the leaves of the
trees hung motionless in the unstirring air, as though they shared
Walt's suspense.
He dozed once, and quickly roused himself with a vigorous
shake of the head and a few silent deeply drawn breaths. Was he
to slumber peacefully here while the Indians robbed his wagon
of its precious cargo and drove off his team? His bitter anger
with himself for the momentary lapse roused him to alertness.
Again time passed, and at last he became aware of a skulking
WALTS LUCK 497
form beyond the vague glow of his camp fire. He stared at it
intently. It moved. An Indian !
"I thought so!" he whispered to himself as though he had
been hoping that Indians were about. At least it proved that his
suspicions and precautions were not entirely unnecessary and
foolish. Now Walt could distinguish the upraised tomahawk
beyond the fire's dim glow as the Indian crept toward the still
form in the bed. He was torn between a shudder of horror and a
strong desire to laugh aloud.
He discerned another Indian not far behind the first and
then another. Then the tomahawk was raised higher and de-
scended where Walt's head appeared to be. At the signal a horde
of voices let out the triumphant war cry and a group of tall
forms leaped erect about the fire and the bed.
Instantly silence descended. One of the Indians had thrown
some wood upon the fire as he yelled, and in the strange quiet the
one who had wielded the tomahawk tore the bed apart as the little
flames began licking upward.
The silence was broken by a word of command from the
leader and several ran hastily to the wagon and looked under
it, and in it. Walt could not suppress a slight chuckle as their
postures revealed to him by the increasing glow of the fire the
bewildered amazement his ruse stirred in their hearts, and the
alarm which was steadily growing into terror as they failed to
find their prey and realized that it was hidden somewhere about
and might at any moment fire upon them.
He sobered instantly at the thought of what would happen
to him if they forced him to reveal his position by firing, then
smiled again, remembering his emotions during the evening as
he had felt their eyes upon him and could not see them, and
knowing just how their spines must be creeping now in the
knowledge that any one of them might be the victim of his first
shot.
They knew he had the drop on them.
But he knew that would avail very little if he fired, for he
counted eleven of them as they passed between him and the blaze
and could not possibly kill them all before some of them found
him. And if he shot just one, the rest would then be bound to
seek revenge. He told himself grimly that "Brother Brigham"
was certainly right when he taught that it was "cheaper to feed
the Indians than to fight them," but he was still resolved not to
let them rob him without offering any resistance.
He saw one of them suggest that they scatter and search for
him. Others refused. Their quick nervous glances into the
darkness grew increasingly fearful and they drew closer together
and farther from the fire. Another urged that they take the
horses, another that they filch what they chose from the wagon.
498 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Then one who seemed to be the leader held up his hand for
attention, uttered a few brief commands, pointed to the one who
had suggested robbing the wagon and pantomimed his doing it
and falling back dead from an unseen bullet. They were all
impressed and silent at that. Then a terse command came from
his lips and they accepted it.
So vivid was the pantomime that Walt understood the argu-
ments as though he had heard every word in his own tongue.
Suddenly the Indians melted into the darkness empty-handed.
And Walt told himself that if he understood Indian nature, he
had by his trick won their respect and admiration and was safe
from them for the rest of the night and the next day, though he
should meet them face to face. He had made them afraid and the
Indian did not as a rule rob or murder the man who had made
him afraid.
Still, he did not go back to his camp nor allow himself
to take more than brief snatches of sleep until the morning
star had faded. Then he investigated.
The quilt he had rolled and the one spread over it were both
torn by the sharp blade of the tomahawk but otherwise nothing
was injured.
He cared for his team, ate a hasty breakfast, and sleepy, but
triumphant and deeply grateful, he drove on and overtook Pete
and Dick just before nightfall.
That night Walt slept so long and so soundly that Hansen
laughingly declared a squaw could have scalped him and he'd
never have known it.
Harvest Moon
By Virginia C. Jordan
0 big, white, harvest moon,
Hung in the pink, mauve sky,
Over the uneven purple hills
With fleece clouds floating by —
Why wait so serenely there
In the sunset's evening glow?
Do you wait for the greater light to pass,
That your own silvery beams may show ?
Ah listen, methinks I hear you say
To the foolish one: "Not so;
1 am placed here by a Mighty Power,
And His will is the only law I know."
Notes from the Field
Lyman Stake.
In the July issue of the Relief Society Magazine, u'mder
Notes from the Field, a most interesting account of a flower show,
and other enterprises showing fine public spirit, appeared under
the head of Woodruff Stake. This should have been reported
from Lyman Stake. These two stakes are closely associated, and
are both to be congratulated upon the fine spirit of the work they
do. It is always regrettable when an error in the report is made,
and we are most anxious to call attention to this one and to give
to every stake the credit and recognition due for its fine achieve-
ments. In addition to the flower show and the other enterprises
recorded, there was also, in the Lyman Stake exhibit a fine display
of what Relief Society women may accomplish during the hours
of their Work and Business Meeting.
Accounts of all Relief Society activities are most welcome,
and are given attention in the office as nearly as possible in the
order in which they are received.
IN MEMORIAM
During the past year, in many of the Latter-day Saint com-
munities, the passing of some of our older and best beloved Relief
Society sisters is noted. In reading the accounts of the lives
of these wonderful women, we find an explanation of why the
Latter-day Saints as a people have been so successful as colonizers
and community builders. The companionship and helpfulness
such as these women display make it impossible for men not to
succeed. One of the great political thinkers of this age has said
if we would know the political and moral condition of a state,
we must ask what rank women hold in it. Their influence embraces
the whole of life. Of the three noble sisters whom we shall
mention, we feel that we could say they have what Shakespeare
said should attend old age — "honor, love, obedience, and troops
of friends."
Annie Heiselt Otteson was born in Pleasant Grove, Utah,
April 15, 1861. The state was still in its pioneer days, but Annie
availed herself of the opportunities given to attend school in her
home town. She was married December 28, 1877, to James
Otteson. About three years later, in response to a call made by
the leaders of the Church, she, with her husband and parents,
left their Utah home and went to Colorado to assist in colonizing
the San Luis valley. At this time Sister Otteson had a baby
500 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
only ten days old, and the journey from Pleasant Grove to San
Luis took six weeks. In entering the new field of pioneer life
there were great responsibilities, serious problems, often so grave
as to be almost a matter of life and death, but this brave sister,
true to the spirit of her people, faced these conditions with a
determination to adjust to anything that might arise, and make
the best of every situation. Many of her early ambitions had to
be sacrificed because of the times, and the environment in which
her life was cast. Sister Otteson was for many years a most
active worker in the Relief Society organization. True to the
spirit of that work, she was ever present in the home where sorrow
entered, and ever ready to give the comfort and assistance
required. One of the Bishops said of her, "She is a ministering
angel, her presence always where it is most needed, and what
she is doing on earth is but a beginning of her work in tJne
hereafter." While her children were still young her husband
accepted a call to fulfil a mission in Europe. From this experience
he returned an invalid, never to regain his health. In August,
1896, Sister Otteson was left a widow. Her faith in God's
goodness was unshaken, and she patiently assumed the double
responsibility which had come to her. Her children, as well
as the people of her community, will remember her as one who
ministered among the sick, and helped many sufferers to find
relief. During the latter years of her life she did not enjoy good
health, and a very beautiful testimony of what her earlier life
must have been, especially with her children, was found in the way
she was regarded by them. Her sons and her daughters felt it
the greatest privilege to minister to her during the last years
of her life. The close of her life came in the place she had
colonized and helped to build. Beautiful and impressive funeral
services were held in the Sanford ward of the San Luis Stake,
on July 25, 1928. .
Elizabeth Susan Brunt : Nearly forty years in Relief Society
work is the line which challenges the eye in the little sketch sent
into the office in reference to Sister Brunt. She was born on
April 30, 1854, in London. When six years of age her family
moved to an English colony in New Zealand, where Elizabeth
was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
at the age of eight years. In 1870 she was married to George
Brunt. About ten years later, she,- in company with her four
small children, preceded her husband to the United States, and
she settled in Farmington, Utah. Some years later her husband
joined her and the family moved to Eagle Rock, Idaho, now
known as Idaho Falls. Mr. Brunt died a year later. The double
responsibility of widowhood and motherhood now rested upon
Sister Brunt. The call to both heavy duties was most cheerfully
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 501
met. Having been active in Church work from the time she was
a girl, it was a part of her life, and in response to one of the
outstanding characteristics of her nature, to continue her service.
Her first office in the Relief Society was that of secretary. This
office was held soon after the first organization in Idaho was
perfected. Later she was chosen as secretary of the stake Relief
Society when the Idaho Falls Stake was organized. Her further
service in the Relief Society was in the capacity of both first
and second counselor in the stake organization. During Sister
Brunt's residence in Salt Lake, which covered a period of some
years, she was actively engaged in temple work. Some years
before her death she had the rare privilege of again visiting her
home in New Zealand. The object of this visit, in addition to
renewing the memories and joys of the past, was to do missionary
service for the Church, which was ever so dear to her. The last
three years of her life were spent in her old home in Idaho Falls,
where she had lived most of the time for over forty years, and
where her children had been reared. The end came very quietly
and peacefully to Sister Brunt on February 14, 1929.
Emily C. Brooks: On February 10, 1929, Mrs. Emily C.
Brooks died at her home in St. George, Utah. In her passing
and in the review of her life, we are reminded that few women
have such an enviable record. First in her life's accomplishments
is her splendid family of twelve children, all intelligent useful
citizens and enthusiastic Church workers. Only one — a daughter
— has preceded her into Eternity. Sister Brooks' motherly heart
included not only her own family, but those of the whole com-
munity, for she has served as counselor, ward president, stake
president and board member for a period of thirty years. Her
record for public service is seldom equalled. During the World
War, her strenuous work in the Red Cross Chapter, added to the
strain of having three boys in the service, caused a nervous break-
down, from the effects of which she never fully recovered. All
her public work was done without the neglect of a single home
duty, for her home was always first in her heart — a haven of
refuge for her family and friends. By her sweetness and gentle-
ness she endeared herself to all her associates, and has left a lasting
memory among her friends. Her peaceful death closed the
record of a wonderful life.
Leone E. McCune is the author of "The Pioneers" which
appeared in the Relief Society Magazine, July, 1929, page 395.
It is regretted that her name did not appear with the poem, as
its author.
Guide Lessons for November
LESSON I
Theology and Testimony
(First Week in November)
BOOK OF MORMON
Lesson 2. The American Bible
1. Assignment: This lesson covers the Book of Mormon
from page 36 to page 70. It includes the matter from First
Nephi, Chapter 16, to Second Nephi, Chapter 5. It is a
mechanical, not a logical, unit, and this fact must be kept in
mind as the lesson is read.
2. Preponderance of Explanation : Also it must be kept in
mind that the backbone of the Book of Mormon is the narrative
and that its teachings are insets, if we may so speak. It is
probably true, however, that the main thing in the minds of its
various writers is, not to tell a story, but rather to expound some
ideas. Still it is helpful to keep this broad distinction constantly
before us.
The proportion of what goes on and what is explained is not
hard to estimate in these two lessons. They cover seventy pages.
The story covers about twelve years in time and includes the
leaving Jerusalem, the two trips to the city for the Brass
Plates and Ishmael's family, the journey through the wilderness,
the voyage across the sea, and the landing— possibly ten or fifteen
pages out of the seventy. As for the rest — about fifty-five to
sixty pages — we have the visions to Lehi, those to Nephi, the
-admonitions of the patriarch to his sons, and the counsel of
Nephi to his brothers, in explanation of his father's words.
Of course, we must place the same emphasis on the ideas as
Nephi intended. And this is characteristic of all the writers of
the Book of Mormon — which indicates what they had in mind
when they wrote.
3. Premew: In Lesson I we left the Lehites "in tents in
the Valley of Lemuel." We don't know, of course, where that
is, and it doesn't matter. In the present lesson, they leave this
place, continue their travels till they reach the sea, build there a
ship, embark and cross the ocean, and land in what is now
America. We do not even know where they landed. And that
does not matter, either.
The doctrinal part begins with the "hard 'things" that
Nephi had said to his brothers, and goes on to quote from the
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 503
prophet Zenos, of whom we know nothing from any other source,
and ifrom the prophet Isaiah (two chapters), a disquisition on
the House of Israel by Nephi, and "an exhortation by Lehi to his
sons, together with some comments by the youngest son.
Following is a brief outline of the entire lesson:
I. Narrative.
1. Travels in the Wilderness.
(a) Nephi breaks his bow.
(b) What they ate.
(c) They build a ship under difficulties.
(d) They embark.
2. The Voyage and Landing.
(a) Incidents en route.
(b) Probable conditions of the voyage.
(c) The landing. ^
II. Ideas.
1. From Zenos — prophecies concerning Christ.
2. From Isaiah — words "to the remnant of the House of
Israel.,,
3. From Nephi — explanation to "his brethren of the words
of Zenos and Isaiah.
4. From Lehi — address to
(a) His older sons.
(b) Jacob.
(c) Joseph.
4. An American Bible: The Book of Mormon has often
been called the "Mormon" Bible, chiefly in scorn and derision.
It is not, of course, our Bible in the sense in which it is intended
by that term. For the Latter-day Saints do not have a Bible of
their own at all. If they did, it would be rather the "Doctrine
and Covenants."
A Bible, as the word has come to be used, means a collection
of sacred literature. And in this sense the Book of Mormon
is a bible. But it is in reality the American Bible, just as the
Hebrew Scriptures is the European Bible. For it bears the same
relation to the New World that the Jewish volume does to the
Old World. And for that matter, it is just as valuable a collec-
tion, viewed from the standpoint of its teachings.
Most people, in truth, have a mistaken notion of the term
"bible" as applied to the sacred writings of the Hebrew people.
While it is a collection of books, a library in fact, it does n\ot
contain all the sacred writings of the Jews. The Book of Zenos,
mentioned by Nephi, who quotes from it, is not in that volume.
<\nd there are many others. Besides, it never was intended by
anyone, except indeed by some wrong-headed Christians of the
early centuries, that the "canon of scripture" should at any time
504 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
be "full/' For, as a matter of fact, God has the right, whenever
Fie pleases, to reveal His will to man, and, if that be set down in
writing, it becomes "scripture,," and in a sense part of a "bible."
The Book of Mormon thus becomes a "bible" not only, nor
indeed the American Bible distinctively, but the only collection
of ancient American writings known to us, and therefore all the
more valuable. Of course, we know that it does not contain
all the literature of the Nephites, nor even all the religious
writings of the Nephites. It contains rather what its authors,
if they knew the word, would call the quintessence of the word
of God to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.
5. The Point of Origin : Another thing of no small interest
in connection with the Book of Mormpn is its origin as compared
with that of other sacred books. Of that origin we shall have
something to say later on in this course, but this point of source
must be mentioned casually here.
Four peoples of the world have sacred writings, not counting
the Latter-day Saints. They are the Chinese, the East Indians,
the Arabians, and the Hebrews. And these sacred writings may
be termed bibles.
The Chinese Bible was written by the disciples of Confucius.
Confucius, born in 551 B. C, was of a distinguished family,
became a public teacher in his early manhood, later held positions
in the government of China, but in his old age wandered from
state to state, puzzled as to why his teachings were generality
rejected by the potentates. "No sooner was he dead, however,
than his wisdom was recognized by peasant and emperor alike;
admiration rose to veneration, veneration to worship. Sacrifices
were offered to him, temples built in his honor, and a cult
established which has lasted almost two thousand years." His
disciples of about the fourth century, B. C, set down what
they could remember of his sayings, "making free use of the
written memorials concerning him, which they had received, and
the oral statements which they had heard, from their several
masters."
"The Hindu Bible centers in Gautama, or Buddha, the
"Awakened." Born a warrior prince about the middle of the
sixth century B. C, he renounced his wife and child and posses-
sions to give himself up to asceticism and concentration of thought.
After years of disappointment, self-discipline, and failure, he one
day became suddenly "illumined" and saw the Great Truths. He
too wandered about from place to place preaching his new creed,
with extraordinary results. H. G. Wells calls Gautama "one
of the most penetrating intelligences the world has ever known,"
and comments sarcastically on the anxiety of his later disciples
for the preservation of the tree under which their master saw
his "vision of the way" instead of preserving the thoughts which
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 505
he received under the tree. His teachings have been summarized
under eight heads — right views, right aspirations, right speech,
right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right rapture.
Among the Moslems in Arabia the "Koran" holds the same
place that Hebrew Scriptures do among Christians. It contains
the revelations to Mohammed written down by his followers
mostly after the prophet's death. Some of these, it is claimed,
were given him while he was in a trance ; others in the form of
pages or scrolls, which he was to read by the "grace of God."
The central idea in Mohammedanism is, that "there is but one God,
and Mohammed is his prophet."
The Hebrew Bible is too well known to need extended men-
tion. It is sufficient to remark that it was written by some forty
different men and contains almost every form of literature — stories,
orations, drama, and so on.
The Book of Mormon is the work chiefly of two men —
Nephi the First and Mormon. Joseph Smith was merely its
translator. The entire volume was revealed to the Prophet by
an angel of the Lord, the original plates having been given back to
the heavenly messenger when the translation was finished.
6. Some Comparisons: (a) The Book of Mormon is the
only one of the five sacred books that was given intact at one
time to man; (b) it is the only one in which an angel was con-
cerned in the book as a whole; i(c) in it the religious element
is more pronounced than in any of the others, not excepting the
Hebrew Scriptures; (d) there is greater unity in it than in
any of the others; (e) as compared with the Hebrew Bible, its
translation can be more depended upon, for the reason that that
translation was done "by the power of God" ; (f ) and as compared
with the others, the work comes to us direct, instead of through
the memory of disciples.
A quotation from each may be helpful, though inadequate,
in showing the spirit and style of these Bibles :
Confucius — Love makes a spot beautiful : who chooses not
to dwell in love, has he got wisdom? Loveless men cannot bear
need long, they cannot bear fortune long. Loving hearts find peace
in love ; clever heads find profit in it.
Buddha- — There are three conditions under which deeds are
produced. And what are the three? Freedom from covetousness
is a condition under which deeds are produced ; freedom from
hatred is a condition under which deeds are produced ; freedom
from infatuation is a condition under which deeds are produced.
Mohammed — Oh, you who believe ! If you obey those who
disbelieve, they will turn you back upon your heels, so you will
turn back losers. Allah is your Patron, and He is the best
pf helpers.
506 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Book of Mormon — It is better that one man should perish,
than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.
Adam fell that men might be ; and men are, that they might
have joy.
The things which some men esteem to be of great worth, to
the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their
feet.
Questions
1. Give the story part of this lesson.
2. Tell the substance of what Zenos gives concerning Christ.
3. The word "prophet" has two meanings — to foretell and to
see into truth. Show how*Lehi stands for these two meanings;
how Nephi does.
4. Show (a) that the Book of Mormon is not our bible;
(b) that it is a bible, and (c) that it is the American Bible.
5. What are some main differences between the Book of
Mormon and the other sacred writings mentioned?
6. Of the various quotations given, which strikes you (a )
as the best thought? (b) as the best phrasing?
LESSON II
Work and Business
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR NOVEMBER
(This topic is to be given at the special teachers' meeting the first
week in November)
OBEDIENCE
I. Obedience to
a. Parents
b. The Laws
c. God
is the outstanding need of today.
"We believe in being subjects to kings, presidents, rulers,
and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the
law." — Twelfth Article of Faith.
II. Training in Obedience Should Begin in the Home.
"These early years from birth to seven years old are the
most important ones in the child's whole life, for in them is
laid the basis, physical and moral, of what the future man
is to be."
"We must begin not with the adults whose habits and
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 507
ideals are set, but with children who are still plastic. We must
begin with the children in the home, the street, and the play-
ground."— Charles W . Eliot.
"To guide first steps rightly is better than to alter
false steps later."
"Early years are the habit forming years."
///. Nature of Obedience.
a. Blind obedience.
1. Sometimes necessary on part of very young children
because of inability to understand.
2. Sometimes necessary to God for same reason.
Easy when necessary because of confidence in parents
and in the Lord.
b. Reasoned Obedience.
"One of the chief services which the Master has
rendered His followers is to redeem obedience from forbid-
ding severity and to make it a glad and winsome loyalty.
He has said, not 'Go ! Obey !' but 'Come ! Follow me !' "
"The will should not be repressed, but stimulated and
guided."
"Child nature is not to be crushed, but directed and
approved."
"Parents should never drive their children, but lead them
along, giving them knowledge as their minds are prepared to
receive it. Chastening may be necessary betimes, but parents
should govern their children by faith rather than by the
rod, leading them kindly by good example into all truth and
holiness." — Discourses of Brigham Young, page 323.
"Teach the people truth, teach them correct principles ;
show them what is for their greatest good, and don't you
think they will follow in that path ?" — Discourses of Brigham
Young, page 348.
"All that the Lord requires of us is strict obedience to
the laws of life." — Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 348.
"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen.
And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set
so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the
honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson —
"That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably
connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of
heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the
principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred
upon us, it is true ; but when we undertake to cover our sins,
or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise
control, or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the
508 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold,
the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is
grieved ; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood,
or the authority of that man * * *
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained
by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long
suffering, by gentleness, and meekness, and by love un-
feigned ; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall
greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without
guile, reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon
by the Holy Ghost, and then showing forth afterwards an
increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest
he esteem thee to be his enemy; that he may know that thy
faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death." — Doctrine
and Covenants, Section 121:34-44).
IV. Obedience is founded on law and knowledge and responsibility.
a. Without law — physical and spiritual — reasoned conduct
would be impossible.
"Know the truth and the truth shall make ye free."
b. Obedience founded on knowledge.
We obey the doctor, our parents, etc., because of their
superior knowledge.
c. Obedience based on affection.
The true foundation for obedience is the desire for the
well-being of him who obeys. The desire for obedience
based on affection only is usually selfish and should rarely
be indulged.
V. Understanding.
True obedience aims at rendering the obedient free,
independent, self-directing observers of the law — physical,
legal, and spiritual. All other kinds of obedience are tempo-
rary and futile.
Forced obedience is not constructive; it does not lead
to character building.
Obedience is a positive power in life and is essential in
the building of a noble character.
BIOGRAPHIES FOR LITERARY LESSONS
Biographies to be studied in the 1929-30 Literary Lessons
may be purchased from the Deseret Book Company, 44 East South
Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, at the following prices,
postpaid: Kati G. Maeser, $1.50; The Girl in White Armor,*
$2.50; An American Idyll, $1.75; A Son of the Middle Border,
$2.50; The Lost Commander, $3.00; Joaquin Miller, $1.75;
S chumann-H eink , $S.O0; Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson,
$4.00. (See also note at bottom of page 512.)
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 509
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in November)
THE GIRL IN WHITE ARMOR
By Albert Bigelow Paine
Albert Bigelow Paine, author and editor, was born in New
Bedford, Mass., July 10, 1861. He is a former editor of St.
Nicholas and is a member of a number of exclusive literary clubs.
Since 1893 he has been publishing essays, poems, and biographies
rather steadily. Chief among his published biographies are "A
Boy's Life of Mark Twain," "Mark Twain, a Biography," "A
Short Life of Mark Twain," "Joan of Arc — Maid of France," in
1925, and "The Girl in White Armor," 1927. He was decorated
Chevalier Legion of Honor (France) 1928. His home is in West
Redding, Conn. — Facts from "Who's Who."
Among the best known, the most revered, the most mystical
characters of truth and fiction, that of Joan of Arc, the girl in
white armor, will always stand preeminent. Cold scientists may
scoff, unbelievers may howl, and the sophisticated may smile
scornfully, but the Maid of Orleans stands calmly unmindful of
them all. What she did is on record. Her deeds speak for her.
In "The Girl in White Armor, the True Story of Joan of
Arc," Albert Bigelow Paine has caused the maid to live once
more, to walk through even this modern world, declaring that
voices can reach through from the Unknown country and that they
do have power to predict and save. We may marvel, we may
doubt, but the cold facts remain. This girl of seventeen did
follow the Voices, did save France, did crown her king. But
shame and pity of it all, she did burn at the stake in the presence
and with the sanction of the very people she had saved.
In this volume of 312 pages, published by The Macmillan
Company, Mr. Paine has drawn a picture of the Maid of Orleans
that is as interesting as fiction. The book reads like a novel and
yet rings true. Of course, in so brief an account of the Maid's
activities, the entire picture of her times cannot be given; but
enough can be shown to reveal the girl in her beauty and power,
and her contemporaries in their loyalty and their wickedness.
Beginning with an account of the Tree which played such
an important part in the early life of Joan and in her miserable
trial, Mr. Paine follows the story through all the great events
of 1429, 1430, and 1431. In a concluding chapter he gives us
510 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
a travelogue through France, following the footsteps of the
youthful French martyr.
The story is incredible. Were it not vouched for and were
it not based in every particular upon records that cannot be
impeached, one would be inclined to doubt. For who, without
weighty evidence, could believe that a maid born and reared in
humble circumstances at Domremy, far from the centers of
population of her country, could at the age of seventeen go before
men trained in war and induce them to turn armies over to her
command and in addition to follow her to hopeless battle? Who
could believe that she could go before her exiled king and make
him believe that she had heard the King of Heaven declare that
he was to be crowned at Reims? And then, who could believe
that she could endure hardship, face powerful enemies, drive out
the alien English armies and free the cities according to her
prediction?
Last of all, who could believe that after anyone had done all
this that the king whom she had crowned, the soldiers she had
led, the poor she had comforted, the country she had saved, could
be so ungrateful as to allow the friendless girl to be inhumanly
imprisoned in terrible dungeons, heartlessly treated by the scum
of the earth, and at last burned at the stake as a common witch?
Yet, it is all true. The records made at the time prove it
to the everlasting shame of France, England, and humanity
in general.
Albert Bigelow Paine, a gifted biographer and writer, has
gone over the trail Joan made from her little village home,
Domremy, through all the country round about to Rouen, where
the maid yielded up her life. He has been in the towers where
she slept and has visited the dungeons in which she was im-
prisoned, and through his gift of writing has given to the world
another biography of the girl who has since been sainted and
holds a sacred place in the hearts of all those who love romarkre
and high spiritual achievement.
In a straightforward manner Mr. Paine has recounted the
high lights of the great story. With deft pen strokes he has
pictured the essential acts in one of the unique dramas enacted
upon the human stage. Cleverly he has woven in at strategic
points in the narrative the exact words of various characters as
they have been preserved in official records and personal diaries
for these five hundred years. In so doing he has made his nar-
rative less graceful than it might otherwise have been but infinitely
stronger and more interesting.
Touches like the following make the book unusual : "So
we complete the picture of the little peasant girl : diligent,
tender-hearted, devout; requiring duty of the bell-ringer, offering
reward if he performed it ; mingling with her companions yet
GUIDE LESSONS EOR NOVEMBER 511
finding alone a companionship they could not understand. Said
one of these :
" 'Often while we were at play, Jeannette (Joan) drew apart
and spoke to God. The others and myself teased her about it.'
"Certainly she was different. Her priest of that time declared
that there was not her like in the village."
The picture Mr. Paine paints of the young girl struggling to
gain an audience with de Baudricourt and of the loyalty of
Durand Laxart is one which cannot but impress all readers. That
the biographer believed in "The Voices" as firmly as did Joan
herself, there can be no doubt. Laxart, it seems, believed fully
in the girl. Of him Paine says, "The nation of France owes a
debt of gratitude to Durand Laxart." It seems to me that Jean de
Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy should also share in whatever
debt of gratitude is due the "honest Laxart," for had it not been
for "those two high-hearted soldiers of fortune" the maid might
have had more difficulty in reaching the king.
The picture we have of the king, Charles VII, can hardly do
other than fill us with disgust, although we must with our
imagination attempt to reproduce the situation in order to be just
to all. Were a girl seventeen years of age to come to one of
our leaders at present with a tale as fantastic as that which)
Joan told, perhaps she would be received in no better manner.
Had the king reached out his hand to save her or even to attempt
to save her during that last trial we might have forgiven him all
else. As it is, he must remain one of the most despised and
despicable among men, sharing only with Cauchon, the Bishop of
Bauvis. the combined censure of humanity.
Joan was at her zenith when she entered Orleans. The girl
in white armor with her sword of the cross carrying her great
banner is the picture of her we all like best, perhaps, for at that
time only did she have the undivided support and faith of her
followers.
Her power to foretell and her power to lead are both em-
phasized by Mr. Paine, who evidently believes that Joan was
possessed of supernatural knowledge. His narrative taken from
the records would seem to indicate that according to the well-
known test of a prophet, the maid was a prophet indeed ; for time
and time again did she reiterate her prophecies, and time and
time again were they fulfilled to the letter.
As we read, we are likely to wonder, if the Voices could
direct her and could rout the armies of the English, why they
could not save her from the awful fate she suffered; and thus
one comes up against the mystery of life and its relationships.
Why, we might ask in the same breath, was Christ allowed to
be crucified and Joseph Smith to be shot? In fact, the same
512 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
question might be asked concerning all the martyrs since the
world began.
The details of Joan's imprisonment and trial are horrifying;
but that they are true, there is no doubt. That is perhaps why
in his foreword the author says, "The story of Joan of Arc is
hardly a tale for young children, and, strictly speaking, this is not
a children's book." Mr. Paine, however, relieves the narrative
by constantly referring to the "Voices" which, no doubt, were a
comfort to the beset girl. If there is in fiction a more terrible
picture than that of Cauchon's "Beau Proces," as the trial of
Joan was called, then I have not come upon it in my reading.
Chapter Twenty, "Afterward," which tells the story of "What
came to Cauchon and Others," rather satisfies those of Mr. Paine's
readers who have not quite reached the full stature of a Christian.
Most readers, no doubt, subscribe sufficiently to the old Mosaic
code to enjoy this working out of justice.
Members of the class would, no doubt, enjoy Mark Twain's
"Joan of Arc" and De Quincey's essay.
Since in this year the world is celebrating the five hundredth
anniversary of the great deeds of Joan of Arc, class leaders and
teachers should have little difficulty in finding plenty of material
about the Maid of Orleans. "The Girl in White Armor," how-
ever, is the work under consideration.
Questions and Problems
1. Why is Albert Bigelow Paine well prepared to write a
short biography of Joan of Arc, like "The Girl in White Armor"?
2. Can you give reasons why Joan of Arc is worthy of world
acquaintanceship ?
3. What qualities make this book especially readable?
4. Can you see why such a girl as Joan of Arc should
inspire many works of art in sculpture, painting, story, biography,
etc. ?
5. Read De Quincey's essay on Joan of Arc. Note the
tone of the piece. It can be found in De Quincey's Essays or a
part of it can be found in Twelve Centuries of English Poetry and
Prose.
6. Find what you can regarding Cauchon, Bishop of Bauvis.
An American Idyll is not out of print as the August num-
ber of the Magazine stated. However, Noon, scheduled to appear
in the January, 1930 issue of the Magazine, is out of print, but
the lesson outlines on the other eight biographies (listed in August,
page 453, and in September, with prices, page 508) will be ar-
ranged to cover the nine months' course.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 513
JOAN OF ARC— SKETCH OF HER LIFE
Albert Bigelow Paine begins his narrative of the life of
Joan of Arc by telling of a great beech tree which overlooked
the valley of the Meuse which was variously called "Ladies'
Lodge" and "Fairy Tree," because, according to tradition, the
ladies of fairyland sometimes danced there. Around this great
tree Joan, or Jeannette, as Joan was named, also danced there
with the children of her time who hung garlands for the fairies
on the tree.
Joan of Arc was born January 6, 1412, in Domremy. Her
parents were Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romee. Isabelle Romee
was a devout Catholic and taught her little girl of her religion
and told her stories of the saints. Joan grew to be a saintly
little creature. One of her companions declared, "Often while
we were at play, Jeannette drew apart and spoke to God."
On August 17, 1424, news came to the village that the French
army had suffered another defeat at the Battle of Verneuil.
Shortly thereafter (she was then thirteen) Joan received "the
first word of the work she was to do." "On a summer day," Mr.
Paine says, at the hour of noon, in her father's garden, she saw
toward the church a great light, and heard a Voice. * * *
The Voice came from the direction of the light, 'a worthy Voice,'
flu'iM of dignity. She was told to be a good child, that God
would help her, and that she would go to the rescue of the King.
And the angel spoke to her of "the pity (the sorrow) that was
of the Kingdom of France." Telling of it later Joan said that
she knew the Voice to be that of a celestial being — Saint Michael.
She also saw a figure, accompanied by angels. She once spoke
of their appearance at the spring below the Fairy Tree. Probably
on that account the tree was mentioned frequently in her trial.
Her visitants (she had them frequently) finally told her that
she had been selected to save France, to crown the King and give
him back his kingdom. "To the Saints Joan pledged her maiden-
hood 'for so long as it pleased God' ; that is, until her mission
was ended."
On October 12, 1428, the siege of Orleans, a key city of
France, was begun by the English. Joan could stand it no longer.
Her Voices must be obeyed. She finally persuaded Durand
Laxart, an uncle, to take her to Robert de Baudricourt, a powerful
captain. She told de Baudricourt to tell the Dauphin to hang on
and not to cease the war ; that he would be made King and that
she would conduct him to his coronation. "Who is your Lord?"
de Baudricourt demanded. "The King of Heaven," was Joan's
simple reply.
De Baudricourt, unimpressed, told her to go home. Bertrand
514 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE .
de Poulengy, however, was impressed by her. Jean de Metz
met her soon afterward and was so impressed that he said, "To
thee, Joan, I, Jean de Novelompont, called Jean de Metz, pledge
my knightly faith, and promise thee, God aiding, that I will
conduct thee to the King." It was these two gallants de Poulengy
and de Metz, who finally took the peasant girl to the King.
The King received her hesitatingly, but soon she was placed
at the head of an army that marched upon Orleans and saved it.
The city joined in a great procession in honor of the Maid of
Orleans. Later she joined in other campaigns, but she was at
her height at Orleans.
On July 17, 1429, five hundred years ago, Charles VII was
crowned King of France in the cathedral at Reims, the same
cathedral which figured in the World War.
From this point Joan's star began to set. She was soon
doubted, wounded, and at last captured by the English who
had threatened her many times with a fiery death.
She was held in captivity for weeks. At last, however,
she was brought to trial before sixty judges in Rouen. Cauchon,
Bishop of Bauvis, had charge. After days of trial and struggle,
Joan was condemned and burned at the stake May 30, 1431.
Later in the day her executioner said to friends : "I shall
never be saved, for I have burned a holy woman." A churchman
said, "Would God my soul were where I believe the soul of
that woman to be."
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in November)
LESSON 17. CHANGES IN THE COURSES OF STUDY
AND THE METHODS OF TEACHING IN THE SCHOOLS
(Based on Chapters 18 and 19 of The Child : His Nature and
His Needs)
In the last lesson we discussed the changing objectives of
American schools. In this lesson — which, it will be noted, covers
two chapters in the book — we consider the changes that are
taking place in the courses of study and the methods of teaching
in the public schools of today. In the next lesson, which will be
the last in The Child: His Nature and His Needs, we shall
attempt to sum up and bring together the main points of the entire
eighteen lessons.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 515
As announced last month, the six lessons for January to
June inclusive will survey The Field of Social Work. There
will be no book required for this set of lessons ; the outlines,
however, will contain references to appropriate readings.
A. The Changing Course of Study
In comparison with European schools it is correct to conclude
with the author of this chapter, that American schools are, in
general, much more modern and less bound by tradition. Yet
from the standpoint of the profound changes which are taking
place in American social and economic life today, our schools
are backward ; they are changing their courses of study and
their methods of teaching with painful slowness. In fact, this
situation is the basis of a major criticism of American schools
today. The truth, therefore, lies somewhere between these two
extreme comments.
In some enlightened places, the schools are progressively
adapting their efforts to the preparation of the child for the life
he is probably going to live. These experiments have great
significance and are being observed with a critical eye by school
people generally. Many innovations, however, have been intro-
duced under the guise of careful experimentation, and presum-
ably after careful thought, but which turn out to be nothing more
than spurious ways of "jazzing up" the curriculum. Who will
not recognize the tendency — possibly in one's own community,
so aptly described by a writer in the August, 1929, Century* as
follows :
"Walk past a typical high-school building * * * Choose
any hour of the day. * * * The broad demesne of this estab -
lishment is filled with the fleeting forms of children. The welkin
rings with their shouts. The school band is discording a cheap
march. Boys in decorated B. V. D.'s are batting balls * * *
Others in khaki and brass buttons are shouldering guns, beating
drums and blowing bugles. On the other side of the grounds the
girls are doing much the same thing * * * boys are applying
wrenches to auto frames. Others are hammering the tops of
cooky-boxes * * * yet more are feeding a hungry printing-
press with good white paper that will soon whirl out covered
with juvenile wise-cracks. Across from the tin-shop a group
* * * is preparing the musical program for the next 'peP'
meeting that is to inspire the gladiators of Webster in their
struggle with Longfellow. In the library, the executive committee
of the Webster Parent-Teachers' Association is meeting to deter-
mine whether to put on a carnival or a minstrel-show to raise
money for a new stage curtain. The library is closed to the few
earnest students who have mistakenly believed that it is a place
for books and study * * *."
516 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Genuine change, born of need and a careful analysis of the
situation, is a much coveted thing in education. But the intro-
duction of change merely for the sake of change is distinctly
hazardous.
The author has wisely emphasized the utilitarian principle now
gaining currency in American education, that the school must
prepare the child for actual life. However, let us see to just
what extent this is true of education as we know it.
Take, in the first place, the matter of vocational education.
Do our schools really prepare children for some vocation or
other? True, we have some agriculture, some business courses
and a little home-making in the high-school curriculum, but who
would contend that this is a satisfactory, well-integrated scheme
of vocational education? Furthermore, how much vocational
guidance is offered the average secondary-school pupil?
These same questions might be raised in regard to character
education. Take also the question of education for parenthood,
more specially for motherhood. The traditional courses in hygiene,
home-making, etc., are offered, to be sure, but does the high-school
girl-graduate learn anything about home-nursing, children's
diseases, mental hygiene of childhood, sex education, etc.?
Finally, we might mention the increasing importance of
preparing children for the intelligent use of their leisure time.
What, for instance, does the average public school do by way
of systematically cultivating avocational habits and interests in its
pupils? It does something, of course, but rarely does it do any-
thing explicitly in this direction.
Of course, the vision of the "what to do" in education is
obviously clearer than our understanding of the "how to do it."
Most school people and boards of education would readily assent
to these needs, but very few have the vision, the courage, the
preparation or the financial backing to enable them to do what
seems indicated.
O Ph er Q westio ns
1. What specific courses are offered to your children in the
public schools that were not available in your day (or vice versa) ?
Is this difference an improvement? Why or why not?
2. How valid is the criticism that "we (in the U. S.) do
not train our pupils to be students or scholars ; we simply entertain
them with a great variety of knowledge?"
3. Who determines the courses of study offered the school
children in your community? Are the wishes and opinions of
parents ever consulted on such matters ? Should they be ? Explain.
*What Makes Teachers Cranky?" by One of Them, August,
1929, Century, page 469.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR NOVEMBER 517
4. What constructive criticisms can you offer regarding the
courses of study in the public schools of your community?
B. The New Methods of Teaching
Perhaps the most striking difference between the schools of
today and those of a generation ago is the freedom and in-
formality of present-day education. The over-strict discipline of
a former day has gone. Nowadays, the child is encouraged to
express rather than to repress his individuality in the class-room.
The old problem of discipline, for instance, is easily dealt with
in the modern school, not by threats of punishment, however,
but by interesting the pupil.
New skills are also achieved by new methods. For example,
equal emphasis is placed on the silent as well as the oral reading
ability of the child. Alongside memory training, the ability to
think, to evaluate and to solve problems is emphasized.
Moreover, children in the modern school not only read about
a subject — such as history, for example — but they learn with the
aid of projects involving music, dramatics, literature, etc. The
schools of today are also well-equipped with laboratories, museums,
maps, etc., all of which increase the efficiency of the learning pro-
cess in general.
To some extent — although not as much as they should —
children participate in their own management. Here the rudi-
ments of citizenship can be taught and the art of living together
learned in a dynamic way.
The spirit and characteristic of the modern school is activity.
The old "sit-still" education is happily passing. The good
teacher knows that activity is synonymous with life and growth;
that inactivity is mental and physical death, so to speak.
The formal subjects such as grammar and arithmetic are
nowadays made dynamic by the new methods in education which
make free use of the play and competitive element.
Occasionally there will also be found the school which makes
discriminating use of those revolutionizing devices, the movie
and the radio, in order to vitalize the subjects taught. During the
last school year, for instance, many eastern school systems equip-
ped their buildings with receiving sets so that the children might
learn — direct from that great artist, Walter Damrosch, conductor
of the New York Symphony Orchestra — the elements of music
and music appreciation.
To know how to use these newer devices, and to be able to
choose wisely from among the many psychological and mechan-
ical aids to teaching which are clamoring for adoption, demands
more intelligence, education and training on the part of the teacher
than ever before. For this and other valid reasons, only com-
518 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
petent well-paid teachers should be in charge of the schools of
today.
Other Questions
1. What are the usual criticisms of American educational
methods ?
2. What is the Montessori method ?
3. Do the schools in your community make any use of the
moving-picture or the radio in conjunction with the teaching
process ?
4. To what extent do the pupils in your schools participate
in self-government?
5. What constructive criticisms can you offer of the edu-
cational methods employed in the schools of your community ?
Uncontrollable Curiosity
By Owen Woodruff Bunker
I've ransacked every nick an' nook
To find that darned old doctor book
My Ma an' Pa gits down at night
T' read aroun' the kitchen light.
I jist can't figger out why they
Should keep the blamed thing hid away.
One time, when Ma was sick abed
With wet cloths wrapped aroun' her head,
I saw my Pa sneak back somewheres
Behind the bottom of the stairs
An' fetch it out, I reckon fer
T' find out what was ailin' her.
I had t' squeeze behind th' door
An' didn't get t' see no more;
But some day I'm agoin' t* find
That thing, an' satisfy my mind
An' read, an* read, 'till I can see
Jist why they hid it up from me.
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When Buying Mention Relief Society Magazine
Portrait of Mrs. Emily S. Richards. Frontispiece
Emily Sophia Tanner Richards.
.Alice L. Reynolds 521
Emily Lula Greene Richards 526
National Conference of Social Workers..
.Amy W. Evans 527
'Aunt Em's' Life Portrayed in Pageant.. 529
Autumn Elsie E. Barrett 530
Editorial — Social Problems in Palestine... 531
Vacation Camps in Idaho 532
Ed's Delusion Minnie I. Hodapp 534
Harvest Vesta Pierce Crawford 543
Health Work in the Schools
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Gay October Jessie Sundwall 547
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Prayer Claire Stewart Boyer 551
Tea and Coffee Harold L. Snow 552
Message and Characters of the Book of
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When the Sun is Blotted Out 554
Notes from the Field 555
Sunflowers 558
Guide Lessons for December 559
Sunset Grace Ingles Frost 574
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
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VOL. XVI OCTOBER, 1929
NO. 10
MRS, EMILY S. RICHARDS
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI OCTOBER, 1929 No. 10
Emily Sophia Tanner Richards
By Alice L. Reynolds
In the spring of 1918 it was my pleasure to accompany Mrs.
Emily S. Richards to the city of St. Louis, where she was a dele-
gate to the convention that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of
Wyoming's receiving its suffrage. It was soon evident, after our
arrival, that Carrie Chapman Catt, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw,
Rachel Foster Avery, and other suffrage leaders knew her well;
they spoke of her as four dear Mrs. Richards from Utah." This
title she had earned through years of devotion to the cause. So
familiar were the chief executives of our State with her record
that from Governor Caleb West to Governor George H. Dern she
was kept in mind and given appointments to conferences and
congresses on behalf of philanthropic and progressive moves for
women and children.
Emily S. Richards was the daughter of Nathan and Rachel
Tanner. She inherited the lofty bearing and physical beauty
so prevalent in her father's family. James Matthew Barrie has
one of the characters of his play say, "If you have charm you don't
need anything else." Mrs. Richards had personal charm. Good
looks, cheerfulness, graciousness of manner, combined to make of
her a lady to jthe manner born. I have never seen her when she was
not cheerful and dignified. But Mrs. Richards had more, much
more, than the personal and spiritual graces that go to make
charm. Descended from a family noted for intellectual achieve-
ment, she had the type of mind that could distinguish a worth-
while cause, and the courage to ally herself with it.
Another factor that has worked materially in assisting her to
carry out the well defined purposes of her life has been her hus-
band. Franklin S. Richards and Emily S. Richards stood side by
side. They were lovers always ; everything she said bore evidence
of the .fact that he was giving her not only the material support
to carry on, but that encouragement which is often so necessary
522 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
to keep up the real drive of the soul. I saw her at the age of sixty-
nine beam at the reception of his letters and telegrams as a young
girl beams over letters from her first lover. Franklin S. Richards
has always been a fitting companion for his wife. He has appre-
ciated through the years her worth, and as we consider what their
union and comradeship has been, it suggests in a number of ways
the life of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer of
Harvard fame.
Mrs. Richards is descended, as is also her husband, from one
of the prominent families of the Church. Father Nathan Tanner
was a friend of the Prophet Joseph, as had been his father John
Tanner before him. Nathan Tanner was with Joseph when the lat-
ter was taken by the mob to Carthage jail. He died at the age of
ninety-five, a revered [patriarch of the Church. Of him President
Joseph F. Smith said : "Nathan Tanner's devotion to the Prophet
would alone insure his eternal salvation." He and his wife Rachel
became the parents of Emily Sophia, born the 13th of May, 1850.
Emily passed her childhood days in pioneer surroundings,
which did not shut out God's sunlight and air. She loved the fields,
the flowers, and responded in joyous manner to the beauty around
her. She was six years of age when her father moved from South
Cottonwood into Salt JLake City. This gave her an opportunity
to attend the best schools that Salt Lake had at the time. She was
proud with others to have been a student of Bartlett Tripp, a man
of such outstanding culture that he became the first governor of
South Dakota, one of the judges of the supreme court of thatt
state and later served the nation as United States Minister to
Austria.
She was eighteen years of age when she became the wife of
Franklin S. Richards. Their first home was in Ogden where three
sons were born to them, Franklin Dewey, Joseph Tanner and Wil-
liam Snyder, two of whom have preceded her to the Great Beyond.
Her family was augmented later by two daughters whom $bz
adopted and on whom she bestowed much care. The daughters
were named Wealthy Lucile and Emily Helen.
It would not be fair to this good woman to continue long a
sketch ,of her life without taking into consideration her faith in
God, in the Latter-day work, and her joy in the religious life. At
the beginning she was connected with organizations of the Church,
serving as president of the Retrenchment Association, as an officer
in the Mutual Improvement Association, and in the Relief Society.
Her husband's mother, Jane Snyder Richards, was conspicuous in
the organization of the Relief Society ; at one time they were both
members of the General Board. Emily S. Richards served on the
General Board of the Relief Society about thirty years, under three
presidents — a period of time that is unusual for any one person to
serve on a central board.
EMILY SOPHIA TANNER RICHARDS 523
In ,1888 a congress was held in Washington which was known
as the World's Congress of Representative Women. Women's
organizations from all over the world were invited to participate.
They had met to organize an International Council of Women.
This meeting marked a very critical time in the lives of the Latter-
day /Saints. There was much prejudice afloat. Mrs. Richards,
who represented the Relief Society, had been invited to make an
address. Through an oversight her name did not appear on the
program. A note was sent to Miss Anthony telling her of the sit-
uation. She went to the rear of the platform and conducted Mrs.
Richards to the rostrum, thus dispelling any thought of an inten-
tional omission. Mrs. Richards was listened to with great respect.
It was one of the experiences of her life that made a very deep
impression ; it was also one of the decided achievements of her life.
Yet her extended service was not alone on the General Board
of the Relief Society ; she was a director of the Orphan's Home of
Salt Lake for some forty years, and a charter member of the
board of directors of the Sarah Daft Home from the time of its
coming into being until a very recent period. Her influence and
effort were felt in the selection of the present site and in the erec-
tion of the building in 1914. Those acquainted with her will un-
derstand why she was sought for in these public offices. She always
assumed her share of the responsibility, often carried more than
her load, and did not shrink from attending to any detail for the
success of the work at hand.
She was in the vanguard when suffrage was written into the
Constitution of the State of Utah, having been appointed chief
organizer for Utah by the National Suffrage Association. She
was also a member of the National Executive Committee. She or-
ganized the Utah State Council of Women, standing at the head
of the work when the battle came on. Fortunately for the cause,
her political affiliations were the same as that of the Constitutional
Convention. Her husband was one of the number and jassisted
in placing Suffrage into the Constitution of the State. It was
not an easy task. I Jiave often listened to her relate in glowing
terms the story of the anxiety of the women as the opponents of
the cause flooded the chamber with oratory meant to kill the
movement; of the anxious night spent in sending telegrams to
women all over the State, asking them to see to it that their rep-
resentatives would stand flatly for the incorporation of a suffrage
clause; for truly they feared lest some might falter.
After Utah jbecame a full-fledged suffrage State, Susan B.
Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw visited the State. Their visit
marked the high peak in the suffrage history of Utah. The meet-
ings in the city, which were notable in character, were followed
by a reception in Mrs. Richards' home in which Governor Caleb
524 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
West, with his staff in brilliant uniforms, became part of the re-
ceiving line, along with the host and hostess and their special
visitors.
When at last she was triumphant, party leaders asked her if
she did not wish the honor of /being the first woman to be elected
to a state senate. She declined, but was intensely interested in
aiding in the election of Mattie Paul Hughes Cannon, who had
that honor, to the Senate of the State of Utah.
But she was not only a leader when the flags were flying and
the drums beating. After the cause was won in Utah, the women
of the State became more or less apathetic, while there wias yet
much to do to give suffrage to the women of the United States.
The success of the movement depended largely on the States that
already had suffrage. It meant a severe struggle to secure a
federal amendment to the Constitution. Mrs. Richards kept the
home fires burning. She visited our Congressmen in Washington,
urging their support. She gave liberally of her own means and
collected what she could from others, so that always the leaders
of the movement knew on whom they could depend.
When in 1920 the national suffrage amendment was passed,
Mrs. Richards was still holding on. She attended the special ses-
sion of the Utah State legislature that ratified the amendment.
Later, she called a meeting with a view of organizing the League
of Women Voters, an organization replacing the American Suffrage
Association, which was attended by Carrie Chapman Catt and
Dr. Valeria H. Parker. Here Mrs. Richards turned the reins over
to others, having fought a long and good fight — a fight covering a
period of twenty-five years. In view of the quality of her service,
it was certainly fitting that in 1918, at St. Louis, she should have
been singled out by Rachel Foster Avery as her special dinner
guest.
In 1891 the Relief Society and Young Ladies' Mutual Im-
provement Association were affiliated with the National Council
of Women, and through that with the International Council. On
that occasion, Mrs. Richards was in Washington with other women
from Utah.
Mrs. Richards attended meetings of both the 'National and
International Councils of Women. An outstanding occasion was
her visit to the quinquennial meeting of the International Council
at Berlin in 1904. It was a notable session, remembered by those
who visited it for contributions from American women of the class
of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and was brilliant in its social aspects.
The delegates were received in the Kaiser's palace at Berlin where
they saw the Kaiserine in robes of state. After the convention, Mrs.
Richards toured Europe with her husband, which was a joy, giv-
ing experience to her.
EMILY SOPHIA TANNER RICHARDS 525
To continue, she was appointed president of the Utah board of
lady managers to the Columbian exposition in Chicago in 1893,
and during the summer session of the World's Fair was hostess in
the Utah building. She received appointments also as vice-presi-
dent of the Utah delegation to the California mid-winter fain jn
1893-94, and to the International Exposition at Atlanta in 1895.
Mrs. Richards was noted for her interest in peace. For a
number of years she served as a member of the State Peace Society.
She was president of the Mother's Congress of Utah and was
Utah's representative to National and International Congress of
Charities and Corrections, from time to time.
In political fields Mrs. Richards has served as national Dem-
ocratic committeewoman for Utah and has been a member of the
national woman's Democratic committee. She was alternate dele-
gate to the national Democratic convention in 1896.
Her contribution to education is noted in the fact that she was
for ten years trustee of the Utah Agricultural College, and ialso
a member of the board of trustees of the Salt Lake Public Library.
It was inevitable that one of her vast experience in public
affairs should be sought during a catastrophe such as the World
War. She 'was a member of the Utah State Council of Defense,
as well as a member of the Woman's Liberty Loan Committee. She
served her county as a member of the executive committee of the
Red Cross. Those of us who recall the strenuous days of the war
will recognize that a full quota had been allotted her. The vigor
of her service at this time showed clearly that she had not grown
weary in well doing.
She, too, was one of the one hundred selected women who, led
by Mrs. Catt, went to the White House and offered to President
Wilson the services of two million organized women pending an
outbreak of war.
Mr. Richards' professional duties took him to Washington a
good deal. At one time he was in residence there for practically
five years. During this time Mrs. Richards became acquainted
with the leaders of women's movements. She also met the wives
of the senators at their weekly afternoon receptions. When they
later returned to Utah and built their home, it was her desire to
build in such a manner that in the event of any of these leaders
coming to Salt Lake she would have a place where they might be
entertained. Her wish was gratified in full measure. Her beau-
tiful home was always a social center. Many citizens will bring
to mind special occasions when she entertained. Some of us will
recall an evening when Ella Wheeler Wilcox was the guest of
honor; others, when Susan 'B. Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw,
and Rachel Foster Avery were at her home ; while yet others will
remember Carrie Chapman Catt, Dr. Valeria H. Parker and Mrs.
Emily Newell 'Blair.
526 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Mrs. Richards passed quietly away at the family: residence.,
175 A Street, Salt Lake City, on Monday afternoon, Aug. 19, 1929.
In the morning she had been in town where she had seen a number
of her friends, among them Mrs. George H. Dern. She expressed
great pleasure at seeing and visiting with her friends. She passed
as those who loved her would have her pass, free from extended
suffering, with her family at her side.
It is remarkable how much one person can accomplish when
the head and heart are set in the right direction. Mrs. Richards
was a leader born, and to the very last exhibited characteristics of
leadership. She inspired in the minds of those who knew her great
admiration on the one hand and tender devotion on the other.
One of the choicest of choice women, she has served her family
and friends, her State, Nation, and Church, nobly and well. She
lias made her place, which is a place of sacredness and of honor ;
she has left a memory around which is bound much of what is
lovely and ideal.
It was eminently fitting that at her service, President Heber J.
Grant should be there to express his appreciation for her religious
life; that Orson F. Whitney, a poet, should stand as a symbol of
the ideality that was so much a part of her ; that Mrs. Annie Wells
Cannon should symbolize her great contribution to the progress of
women, and that her brother, Mr. C. C. Richards, should pay
tribute to her home life.
Emily
A loving tribute to Mrs. Franklin S. Richards
"Come unto me, ye blessed of my Father."
Kindness and friendliness beamed from Emily's eyes.
Her heart and hands reached out to works of love.
Last evening bright and glad — today surprise
Brings message of "her going home" — above !
No ling'ring hours of weariness and dread —
But ready transport to her God instead.
Her soul's companion, children, grandchildren, friends,
Confess God's hand in this benign release.
To hearts bereft His matchless grace extends
Sweet consolation, hope, and sacred peace.
May we live worthy, from earth's changing clod,
To meet her in her heavenly home with God.
— hula Greene Richards.
National Conference of Social Work
June- July, 1929
By Amy W . Evans
With all the hospitality of the most hospitable Californian,
the fifty-sixth annual Conference of Social Work was made wel-
come to San Francisco. It was a most cordial welcome. The
local committee made excellent arrangements and were so thought-
ful and considerate for the comfort and convenience of their guests,
"that the out-of-town members in attendance would be unani-
mously inclined to give them credit as well for the marvelous
weather enjoyed throughout the week."
The registration this year reached a total of 3,387. One
thousand of those attending came from east of Denver — a much
larger number than was estimated would come from the East. Yet
Porter R. Lee, the president, states that the conference was geo-
graphically rather more broadly national in character than are
meetings in the East.
Utah was well represented, with an especially large delegation
from the Relief Society.
In making a brief report of the Conference it is impossible
even to mention what occurred in each of its twelve divisions, much
less to include kindred groups that held meetings just before and
during the week of the Conference. Only the outstanding ses-
sions can be touched upon.
One of the most stimulating and picturesque sessions was the
meeting on "Pacific Relations," which was addressed by Dr. Ray
Lyman Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior, and by John S. Burgess
of Princeton-in-Peking. About fifty natives of foreign countries
were seated on the platform as guests of the Conference ; their
presence reinforced the points made by the speakers.
Secretary Wilbur, chairman of the Division of Health when
the subject "The Economic Aspects of Medical Care" was dis-
cussed, contributed greatly to the session.
One session, the Division of the Immigrant, especially inter-
esting to Relief Society delegates, was devoted to the Indian prob-
lem. Two of the best informed persons on the subject in the
United States, Mr. Lewis Meriam of Washington, D. C, director
of the recent Indian Survey, and Mr. Henry Roe Cloud, himself
a Winnibago, addressed the session. Mr. Meriam stated the chief
program — how to set in motion those social forces by which the
American Indians may be enabled to work out the Federal paternal-
istic supervision, which too often amounts to a rigid military sys-
528 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
tern, into a natural adjustment of the life of the modern world, "like
any other people."
Mr. Cloud, a fine appearing Indian and a graduate of Yale
University, gave an eloquent address on the Indian problem from
the viewpoint of his race. What the Indian needs most, he argued,
is to be released — a release for his personality, a release from sub-
jugation ; to be recognized as a human being and to be aided toward
his own development. As a famous Indian chief once put it. "He
needs the right to make his own mistakes instead of having others
make them for him." Mr. -Cloud stated also that many Indians
are becoming landless from drifting to large cities, where they usu-
ally live in the poorest sections.
A motion was made that a telegram of appreciation be sent to
Mr. Rhoads and to Mr. Scattergood for their public-spirited ac-
ceptance of President Hoover's request that they head the United
States Indian Service. The executive committee of the Division
was requested to appoint a section to consider, for the 1930 Con-
ference at Boston, a program on the Social Problems of the Indians.
The subject of unemployment was discussed in the Division
of the Family, also in the Division of Industrial and Economic
Problems. These sessions were well attended, the subject being
of such vital importance that the chairman had difficulty in con-
trolling the floor ; many entered the discussions and had much to
say. That the family , worker should know what unemployment
does to the lives of the individuals in the family group and to
community life as a whole, was shown by Mr. Lynde of the Cleve-
land Associated Charities. To bring home this truth to all who
can be of influence in solving the problem, was his aim.
The Division of Children was addressed by men and women
of accomplishment in this field of social work. Among these was
Grace Abbott of the Federal Children's Bureau, who spoke of the
opportunities and responsibilities of the Juvenile Court, of the
necessity for trained social case workers as investigators, also of
probation officers with the newer conception of child study and
child guidance. She thought the Juvenile Court should not be
cluttered up with non-support cases, divorce, adult offenders, and
mothers' allowances.
A report of the Conference would not be complete without
mention of Dr. Miriam Van Waters, who was elected president for
1930. Miss Van Waters is referee of the Los Angeles Juvenile
Court and author of "Youth in Conflict" and other books on social
subjects. It has been four years since a woman was elected pres-
ident. Miss Margaret Vaile having been chosen at Denver in 1925.
"The New Morality and the Social Worker" was the subject of a
notable address given at one of the general sessions by Dr. Van
Waters. In a message published in the Conference Bulletin she
says, "A National Conference of Social Work is like a religious
CONFERENCE OF SOCIAL WORKERS 529
revival in that it thrills many for the first time to a life beyond
the problems of the self. As revivals do not accomplish the real-
ization of the aims of religion, so conferences are not intended to
exhaust the interest and enthusiasm of social workers by means
of one big meeting a year." Rather does the Conference broaden
the interest of the social worker so that it extends beyond his
neighborhood to the entire city in which he serves, then to his state,
then to the nation.
'Aunt EmY Life Portrayed in Pageant
"We live in deeds not words," is truly manifest in the lives
of those who through the years strive to help their fellow men.
To men and women who hold high the lamp of life and let its
light shine to brighten the path of others, there is no death. The
spirit in their lives proves its immortality in the heart of mem-
ory; therefore, as the years go by, those lives devoted to others'
advancement still shine on in the world.
This summer at Mackinac Island, Michigan, the Professional
and Business Women's Club held its national convention. The
closing session consisted of a pageant portraying in succession the
life of the most outstanding woman of each State in the Union.
The clubs of the organization in the respective States decided by
vote the selection of its most noted woman. The Utah clubs
voted for Mrs. Emmeline B. WJells. They considered her the
woman who had rendered the greatest service to the women of
her State, Utah.
Miss Ora Harmston of Richfield, State president of the Utah
society, Miss Elizabeth Fitzgerald, assistant principal of the Salt
Lake West High School, and Miss Margaret Stewart of Ogden
were the delegates from Utah; on them was placed the task of
presenting Utah's part in the entertainment.
The pageant was prepared by Miss Nelson of Richfield, state
secretary of the organization. It was written in three parts —
education, suffrage, and philanthropy — including the unique story
of the storing of the wheat. The personal call of President and
Mrs. Wilson, in behalf of the nation to express to Mrs. Wells his
— the President's — grateful thanks for the large amount of wheat
bestowed at the time of the World War was interwoven in the
story, which was read by Miss Margaret Stewart of Ogden to the
music of the song, "Our Mountain Home So Dear," composed
by Mrs. Wells.
To represent Mrs. Wells, Miss Elizabeth Fitzgerald was
530 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
chosen. She wore the actual costumes, including the well remem-
bered paisley shawl and silver-colored bonnet, with the beautiful
Utah silk dress, now the property of the Daughters of the Pio-
neers. She was declared to be a perfect representation of the
character. Miss Fitzgerald's slight build, classic features, and
soft grey hair — so like "Aunt Em's" — made her delightfully real
in the quaint costume.
On their return home, the delegates were enthusiastic over
the success of the pageant, pronouncing it the finest one presented
and the one that received the most applause. The popularity of
the pageant was reiterated in a letter from Miss Fitzgerald writ-
ten on board a Cunard liner on the Atlantic ocean, as she was on
her way for a tour of Europe at the close of the convention. She
wrote that "Even after going to New York, and since I have been
on the boat, I have had to tell her story over and over again,
adding many of the little incidents that our limited time at
Mackinac did not permit us to tell. Over and over again I heard
at our convention this expression : 'I think Utah presented the most
interesting woman/ " She further writes, "I am sure our little
bit will make people understand that the women of Utah were
among the leaders in any forward-looking movement."
It is always gratifying to know that one of our dearly be-
loved women has received such honors, and to feel, as in this case,
that they are worthily bestowed — a verification that our good deeds
live after us and that the sweet influence of "Aunt Em's" life has
left its shining light, a guide and inspiration for the women of
Zion and all women.
Autumn
By Elsie E. Barrett
The Autumn is present with color and tints ;
On all trees and bushes it makes its imprints.
Gay time of the harvest, of fruits and all grains,
And ev'ry thing living is chanting glad strains.
The green of the summer has turned red and gold ;
All nature is saying — "My beauties behold."
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto— Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
V1RS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD - - - - - - Second Counselor
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mrs. Elise B. Alder
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Miss Alice Louise Reynolds Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs-. Lizzie Thomas Edward, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor - - Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Bbown Lyman
Room ,20, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, :»ah Lake City, Utah
Vol. XVI OCTOBER, 1929 No. 10
EDITORIAL
Social Problems in Palestine
People in the civilized world will generally regret the outbreak
in Palestine. Aimed particularly at ithe Jews, it has caused the
death and injury of many of that race. All the modern science
that can be brought to the aid of the Arabs, as well as all the ap-
propriations for education given by the Zionists' organization, .will
be of small value unless .something can be done to teach the people
dwelling in that land to be tolerant one towards another.
The streets of most oriental cities are narrow ; people who
dwell in them cannot walk up and down without rubbing against
each other ; yet their ideas are as far apart as the north pole from
the south pole. Any one who has ever visited* that country must
be aware of these deep-seated antagonisms.
A guide who was a Christian Arab, having been taught the
religion of the Quaker by his father, had spent enough time in
New York to learn the English language. One morning, when his
party was leaving Jerusalem to go to Nazareth, he apologized be-
cause he wore the fez or tarboosh, which is the prevalent style
of hat in that country. Turning to his party, he said, "I have a
Panama hat that I brought from New York, and which I should
very much like to wear on such a day as this ; but if I went among
the Arabs with it they would take me for a Jew and probably kiH
532 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
me. If I wear my tarboosh they will think I am Mohammedan,
and that probably will protect my life."
The people belonging to the Zionist movement have built a
Jewish university on Mount Scopus, which is a part of the Mount
of Olives. When it was dedicated, April 1, 1925, the British gov-
ernment sent Lord Balfour, one of their most talented speakers,
to make an address. So bitter was the feeling of the Arabs to-
wards him that he had to be taken to the coast under special guard
to embark for home.
The Arabs hold their destiny in their hands. If they are de-
termined to stir up strife and massacre and kill the Jew, who has
knowledge and material wealth that can be used to redeem the
land and bring back in a measure its former glory, then the hour
of their redemption will be delayed, lit is incumbent, also, upon
the Jews to be tolerant to those who are at present living in that
land and who, like themselves, are the children of Abraham. It is
of little avail for the Jews to seek the Wailing Wall and plead with
the Lord for the re-establishment of their people as a nation in the
Land of Promise if they are part and party to the stirring up of
strife, and not willing to do everything in their power to bring
about harmony and establish good will.
Another matter to be regretted is that the small body of Chris-
tians living in that country do not always use their good offices to
maintain an attitude of good will jbetween Arabs and Jews. As
followers of the meek and lowly Nazarene, they should be anxious
to do all they can to induce the Arabs, with whom they have in-
fluence, to be law-abiding and tolerant, that the hour may not be
far off when that land, which gave birth to the Savior, and in
which he died that all men might be saved, shall cease to be a hiss
and a by-word from the standpoint of modern progress and Chris-
tian ethics.
Vacation Camps in Idaho
Miss Marion Hepworth has demonstrated her vision. Vaca-
tion Camps in the State of Idaho have become a real institution.
There women gather and are brought into contact with an educa-
tional program suited to their particular needs. To make this
program possible, the most attractive vacation resorts in the State
have been selected for the encampment, where women from five
or six] counties assemble. At the camps a three-fold program is
carried on, emphasizing information, recreation, and inspiration.
The theme this summer has centered around the child.
Illustrative of the idea, on Tuesday, July 30, at Mack's Inn,
Miss Marjorie Eastman gave a talk and demonstration on chil-
dren's garments for health and play. The recreation was under the
EDITORIALS 533
leadership of Mrs. Eldon Sessions ; the music, which has been
featured at the camps for two sessions, was under the direction of
Mr. T. R. Neilson of the Southern Branch of the University of
Idaho. On the first evening, Governor Baldridge of Idaho made
an address, also David O. McKay of Salt Lake City.
The music deserves special mention; it was the best sort of
demonstration of the theme Mr. Neilson was presenting, "Music
in the Home." It consisted of an all-Neilson quintette, the per-
formers transferring with perfect ease from one instrument to
another. Mrs. Neilson Is the accompanist, ordinarily two of the
sons play the violin, while the father and the eldest son play the
clarinet. Sometimes they resolve themselves into a saxophone
# quartet consisting of father and three sons with the mother at the
piano. This orchestra accompanies the women as they sing, under
Mr. Neilson's leadership, their State songs and the popular airs of
America. !
On these programs for two seasons the Relief Society has been
represented. Last season Miss Alice L. Reynolds of the General
Board took part on the program at Fish Haven and Lava Hot
Springs. This summer the General Board of the Relief Society
has been represented at four camps — Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter
appeared on the program at Fish Haven and Lava Springs, and
Miss Alice L. Reynolds at Starkey and Mack's Inn. Miss Rey-
nolds subject both years was Books that pay Interest and Reading
for Children. Mrs. Baxter spoke on Char cater Training in the
Home, and The Poise of the Mother in the House.
The conception is unique, amply deserving the popular sup-
port that it is receiving. Beyond question, it carries a message
from the Agricultural College and University of Idaho into the
homes of the State — the real purpose of an Extension Division.
Miss Marion Hepworth, State Home Demonstrator, with her as-
sistants in the counties, is to be congratulated on the impressive
program she has assembled, and the excellent piece of educational
work she is putting over.
Mrs. Alveretta S. Engar is the author of the poem "Recom-
pense," which appeared in the Relief Society Magazine, September,
1929, page |483. It is regretted that her name did not appear
with the poem,
Ed's Delusion
By Minnie I. Hodapp
"A little wine once in a while doesn't hurt me," said Ed Hale
in low, persuasive tone to his sweetheart Retta Lee. "Just so a
man can keep his head and not let drink get the better of him, a
little wine once in a while doesn't matter." Ed smiled as though
he felt quite sure of proving his point, but a look of pained sad-
ness crept into the deep brown eyes of unconvinced Retta.
"How long since you began tasting a little wine now and
then, Ed?"
Ed hesitated, then replied falteringly, "Oh, quite a while
ago — say two or three years ago."
Retta looked amazed, stunned.
"I always know when to quit, Retta. I've never missed a
class recitation or lost a practice-case over tasting a little wine
once in a while. I always know when I've had enough. It pays
to be on one's guard, you know, as the directors at the medical
college are quite exacting with the students."
Retta felt that this confession, unpleasant as it was, revealed
Ed's downright integrity. His non-denial of his indulgence was
more fascinating than disgusting. She wished to draw out his
story.
"Why did you start tasting wine, Ed?"
"Why? Partly due to my work. The sight of so much pain
and suffering began to unnerve me. I thought I needed a stimu-
lant. So once in a while, say every six weeks or thereabout, I be-
gan taking a little wine."
Retta's answer was a low moan, tearless, yet full of anguish.
Ed's heart smote him as he saw how his secret disturbed her.
"Retta my dear," his voice dropped to a soothing apology, "I
should not alarm you in this way. You've been brought up to
look at these things seriously, and in the main you are right."
"Yes," came faintly from Retta. She was too much over-
borne by emotion to take up further argument. Turning to the
table she looked again at the peerless white roses Ed had given
her that day. The girl trembled lest she might find a canker worm
feasting amid their satin-snow petals.
"Oh, Ed," she moaned.
"What is it Retta?"
"I thought you were far, far too wise for anything like this."
"Girlie, a little wine once in a while," he began pleadingly,
then stopped abruptly for Retta was paler than the flower in the
vase on the table.
A flute-note from the band-concert in the neighboring park
ED'S DELUSION 535
broke into the room. It summoned them to the park. As they
rode in Ed's car, it took but a few minutes.
"Let's mingle with the crowd," said Retta observing that the
program was well advanced. They soon joined some friends on
a grassy bank toward the edge of the throng.
Darting in and out among the trees behind them, they espied
a lone youth.
Ed peered into the grove, then said, "Why, it's Herman skip-
ping to and fro like a dancing shadow. He has a bunch of hand-
bills."
"Hey, Herman ! Bring me one," called Ed.
The youth hastened forward and handed Ed a bill.
Retta watched the young man as he moved lithely back among
the trees. "What's the matter with his right hand," she asked
Ed.
"I've never found out axcept that it is useless. Poor Her-
man ! He never did play basketball in high school on account of
his handicap, but he did a lot of other things."
Retta began reading the bill by way of changing the subject.
Her sympathy was acute, and the retiring behavior of Herman
haunted her.
The advertisement was concerning an excursion to Ellen Isle
on June twentieth.
"Shall we go?" asked Ed.
"I just can't refuse," declared Retta. "Mother will leave for
the coast on the nineteenth and I'll have to take care of little Bob.
Maybe I'll coax him to stay with Aunt Louise that day."
"Or you may take him along. A child usually delights in a
boat ride."
"That's just it ! He might become too venturesome. I don't
want to feel worried about him. It would spoil the outing."
"Well, just leave him with Aunt Louise," said Ed. "I don't
want that day to be marred for you by a single worry, however
slight."
Retta beamed her approval of these considerate words ; Ed
gave her hand a little squeeze and said, "We'll hire a nice, new
boat and have a capital time on the water."
"And I'll pack a lunch in mother's big picnic basket. For
'tis a fact, I'd rather spend a day at Ellen Isle than at any sum-
mer resort you can name."
So the lovers arranged their perfect day.
Never had Retta seen Ed happier and handsomer than when
he helped her into the boat on Lowell River on the morning of
the excursion. The glassy water wound smothly down toward
Ellen Isle, six silvery miles away. It mirrored the mountains and
trees. A perfumed breeze rustled among the wild roses along
either bank. Ten thousand blossoms seemed to vie with one an-
536 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
other 'neath the blithe June sky. The sight moved Retta to fond-
est admiration and she recited for Ed :
"Yon blithely smiling wild rose hedge
Ablooming by the water's edge
So innocent and free !
With silken petals pink and fair
Aflutter on the balmy air
In guileless rivalry!"
In snatching for a spray of low-bending blossoms along the
edge of the stream, Ed almost upset the boat.
"Sit down," shrieked Retta, as he danced a jig on the floor
of their little craft.
Placing the flowers in Retta's lap he said,
"Lady fair, I really must
Either poetize or bust."
As they glided past the silent, sunny fields the cadence of a
meadow lark came now and then, like a ripple of purest joy to
their love-enchanted hearts.
By and by Ed ceased to row, folded his arms and gazed into
the deep, silent current that flowed on and on so peacefully.
Gradually the boat neared the shore, and Retta, enraptured,
beheld the grassy knolls and fragrant bowers of Ellen Isle.
At the mooring Retta was somewhat surprised to meet the
young man whom she had noticed dancing in the shadows on the
eve of the band concert. He was on duty here and he locked the
boat with willing alacrity. Retta watched him closely. To her
mind, Herman seemed more skillful with his one useful hand than
some persons are with both.
"I'm edified in studying his case," remarked Retta as they
turned toward an inviting knoll.
"Really ?" said Ed with a slightly forced laugh.
Ed spent the forenoon fishing and had unusual fisherman's
luck. At noon he built a small campfire and arranged the fry.
Meanwhile Retta spread out their luncheon in a grassy nook close
by.
"I believe I'll go and fetch a pail of water from the west-
side spring before we eat," said Ed. "I won't be gone many
minutes."
He reached the springs and watched the cold, pure water
bubbling from the quicksand. He filled his bucket and stooped
down to pick some watercress when a hearty-sounding voice ar-
rested his ear.
"Hello, Ed, old timer !" It was Newel Simons who spoke,
"Why, hello, old pal," responded Ed,
ED'S DELUSION 537
"Here's something better than water, Ed," began Newel;
then, noticing Ed's reluctance he went on, "Come on, old timer.
You're off duty today. Make it a real holiday."
Although the sparkling flask looked deliciously tempting to
Ed, he hesitated and turned with the bucket of water to go back
to Retta.
"Here, here!" called Newel holding out the flask entreat-
ingly.
Ed put down the bucket and remarked almost in the language
of the ancient Rip Van Winkle, "This drink won't count." He
sat down on the bank beside Newel and the two friends began a
game of mumble-peg in the damp soil.
Retta waited half an hour, but Ed did not appear. Ten anx-
ious moments were added to the half hour. Still no Ed in sight.
She stirred up the little campfire to keep the fish warm. She
walked forth and back under the arbor. Growing restless, she
climbed a tree for diversion. "I'll just await him here, and he'll
wonder what's become of me."
When she came down from the tree she was much relieved to
see Mrs. Mecham coming toward her, crocheting as she walked.
Retta welcomed her and she prolonged her visit as much as pos-
sible. Mrs. Mecham was glad of the change, as she wished not
to disturb baby Robert's nap by chattering over him. Not until
the child's own voice gave the signal of awakening did she retrace
her footsteps toward him.
It was half past two o'clock when Retta started toward the
spring to find Ed. As she neared the spot two men from under
the trees lifted their boisterous voices in greeting. The girl's
quick glance fell upon four empty wine flasks piled against the
tree. The loquacious, unsteady voices of the two friends made her
instantly aware of what had taken place.
Angered and disappointed, Retta turned back. She would
go and pack the untouched luncheon into the basket. (What a
patient Griselda she had been !) She hastened her steps, but alas
a hungry dog had watched his chance, and during her absence,
had made a feast of the meal, leaving not a morsel.
At sight of the dog's muddy footprints on her dainty table
linen, Retta sat down and wept.
A far-off peal of thunder caused her to look up.
"Oh, I hope a storm isn't brewing! How on earth will we
get home ? Ed is in no condition to handle the oars."
She placed the tablecloth and forks and spoons in the basket,
then hastened down to the boat at the river's edge.
"You seem to be troubled about something. May I help
you ?" asked the alert, dark-eyed young man who had charge of the
boats.
538 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
"Yes," answered Retta in low tone. I need help. Someone
must help me and so I'll turn to you.
"Will you please go with me to the spring and help me in-
duce Ed Hale to come down and get into the boat. Do hurry!
I want to get him away from here before too many of his friends
find out. He's been drinking wine and more wine and more wine
—Oh, I can't tell you all!"
"I understand," answered Herman. "Say no more about it."
By skillful maneuvering Retta and Herman enticed Ed to
walk between them down toward the mooring. Here Herman
took a robe and a cushion and made a bed in the floor of the boat.
Little by little, Retta persuaded Ed to get into the boat and lie
down for a nap. This done she seated herself in one end of the
boat and took an oar. Herman unlocked the boat and pushed out
into the middle of the stream, meanwhile assuring Retta that she
would reach home before many of her friends found out Ed's
folly. Hide it she would for her own sake and Ed's !
"You manage the boat so well," said Retta to Herman.
"Of course I try to do the best I can, Miss Lee," answered
the young man ; "but I have my limitation," glancing down at his
helpless right hand.
Retta's eyes spoke truest sympathy as she replied, "You are
surely patient and brave through it all. May I ask the cause of
your affliction?"
"I cannot explain," said Herman, "without involving a friend
who has been very good to me all his life. It was his mistake, and
for the sake of his good name, I hold it a secret."
"That's hard to do, isn't it?" asked Retta.
"Not so hard," answered Herman, "when one bears in mind
that a weak character is oftentimes more dangerous than a wicked
one."
"Oh ? You don't mean to say that ?"
"Yes, Miss Lee, I mean exactly that. One doesn't trust a
wicked man, but it is easy to forgive the weakling and trust him
again and again."
"I suppose you are right," mused Retta sadly. In that same
interval a mourning dove uttered its sweet and plaintive cry from
the river bank. Its song almost broke Retta's heart. Even the
wild rose hedges seemed unsmiling and drooping and stricken with
blight.
When the boat finally landed, Ed was able to get out and
walk toward home.
"Goodbye, Retta," he said sadly.
"Goodbye, Ed." There were tears in Retta's eyes, for she felt
that this was indeed the last goodbye.
She was not surprised to receive next morning this message
from Ed:
ED'S DELUSION 539
"I know I acted the part of a contemptible fool, Retta. I
don't ask you to forgive me this time. Confound it all ! What
made me taste that wine? Words cannot express the disgust I
feel toward myself, and I know full well that I've made myself
forever odious in your sight."
To this letter Retta made no reply. Words failed her and
her emotions were too conflicting to be trustworthy. Besides,
Ed was aware of his over-powering appetite, his pathetic infirm-
ity of will. Oh, but wasn't he paying in regret, remorse, chagrin
and self torture?
Weeks passed. No word from Retta to Ed. No further
message from Ed to Retta. Neither made the least attempt to
break silence.
Secretly Ed was very grateful to Retta for having kept his
folly hidden. It gave him a better standing in the neighborhood.
Folks had confidence in him still. Although he had one more
year to complete his course at the medical college, his near and
dear friends would occasionally call for his assistance in case of
emergency. He dressed Edwin Brown's hand when his fingers
were crushed in the pulley. He bandaged Jay Hendrick's sprained
ankle and helped to set Gene Francom's leg. And it was with a
heart throb of pride that Retta heard these things related. "Dear
Ed ! He may win out yet," she told herself.
Naturally Ed avoided Herman. It annoyed him to feel that
this simple Swiss immigrant boy had shown himself Ed's superior
in the eyes of Retta. Ed would not willingly meet Herman again.
No ; not under the most favorable conditions.
It happened one evening when Ed called to leave a book at the
home of a soldier who had lost his eyesight in the late World War,
he found Herman there reading to him.
"Go right on, Herman," requested Ed, seeing him pause as
if to lay aside the book. So he continued the lesson. It was a
French text and Herman translated it phrase by phrase and sen-
tence by sentence. When the lesson was finished, Herman, much
to Ed's relief, said goodbye and left the two friends alone.
"How often does he help you?"
"An hour each evening."
"You're fortunate," answered Ed. "Herman knows his
Latin, too, and that thoroughly."
"But I understand he has a physical defect," remarked the
blind student. "His right hand, I believe."
"Yes, through an accident. I don't know the details ; but if
I had to change places with Herman I'm afraid I should curse
the fate that heaped upon me so cruel a handicap."
"Oh, there are worse things," replied the blind student.
"Forgive me, friend," said Ed feelingly. "I spoke with con-
siderable warmth. But Herman's case seems to haunt me for
540 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
some reason. Perhaps it's because I've seen his struggles — al-
ways fitting himself into a niche for service — elevator boy, janitor,
usher, guide, assistant night clerk. And he has real ability could
he but rise to a particular calling wherein his handicap need not
figure."
The phone rang. A voice of frenzied alarm cried:
"Is this you, Ed?"
"Yes, Retta. What's wanted?"
"Oh, Ed, come! It's my little brother. He's eaten a wild
parsnip and is in a convulsion."
Ed was soon in the Lee home beside Retta working over little
Bob.
"If he should die," cried Retta, "how would I tell mother?
She left him in my care — she left him in my care."
Ed worked rapidly. His calm presence lent strength to Retta.
Although an agonizing period to her, within fifteen minutes little
Bobbie was relieved and Ed said that he was out of imminent
danger.
Retta's joy knew no bounds.
"I want to hold him, Ed."
So Ed lifted the little boy from the bed and placed him
tenderly in Retta's arms. What a picture of gratitude she was
as she sat beaming upon Ed while she nestled little brother close.
"Don't leave yet," said Retta. I shan't feel safe about him
with you gone."
This entreaty fell like sweetest music upon the ears of Ed,
and a wave of protective tenderness surged through his heart.
"I'll stay with you until you feel entirely at ease about him,"
said Ed.
Ed did not leave until past midnight and he promised to call
again first thing in the morning.
The forenoon visit was thrillingly happy. Little Bobbie was
up and playing marbles in the front yard. Ed and Retta sat en-
gaged in blissful conversation while they watched his play. The
occasion seemed to revive all their once fond happiness. In the
course of the hour they planned a party for Retta's birthday the
following Thursday.
"And I'll come extra early," said Ed, "to help you with the
pantomime."
So Retta began at once with the preliminary details of her
birthday party. While she worked, her heart sang a wondrous
love-rhapsody. Ed had made a new resolve and was not going to
disappoint her any more. His golden promises made Retta's fu-
ture shine "like leaves and flowers and strawberries agrowing on
one vine."
Thursday came and Retta marked the place cards and matched
the silver, all the time thinking how Ed had offered to come early
ED'S DELUSION 541
in order to help her stage the dear little pantomime. He had
stressed this promise and how she counted on it !
The first arrivals at the party were Nell and WJalter. Such
early comers they ! Was it to their credit to be so punctual, Retta
wondered.
A few minutes later Phyllis and Ralph, John and Margaret,
and Louis and Helen arrived in Ralph's car. Such a merry bunch !
Their laughter echoed through the room as they chatted in gay
confusion.
Herman next. He came alone. How genially he bowed to
the assembled guests. Retta welcomed him warmly, all the time
feeling what a slight return was her hospitality compared with
the great way in which he had befriended Ed.
A sudden summer shower seemed to hasten the arrival of
the other guests. Retta was greeting them one and all, when an
agitated voice whispered in her ear. "Land sakes, child, why don't
you have your company set up to the table ?"
"Is it time to eat, Polly ?"
"Time to eat! Why child, I've been standin' ready to dish
the victuals the last half hour. The dinner will spoil if you wait
much longer/'
"We'll commence at once," said Retta, glancing at her watch.
"You're right, Polly. We are half an hour late. I'll have them
seated presently."
Once more Retta stepped onto the porch and looked up the
street. Ed wasn't in sight.
"How can I lead out at this dinner without Ed? Won't it
look awkward for a hostess at a formal dinner party to be with-
out-—
"Come on, Retta. Don't delay the dinner," called out Polly.
A bright idea entered Retta's mind. She walked over to
Herman.
In a moment it was arranged and Herman was seated beside
the hostess.
No sooner had dinner commenced than the phone rang.
"Ed insists on speaking to you," said Retta's aunt. So the
young hostess, much perplexed, left her guests.
"Hello, Retta. This you?" came in loud, garrulous tones
from Ed. "Say, Retta, is it tomorrow or next day that your
party's coming off? Is that so? Well, I've got it all mixed up.
Why didn't I make a note of it ? Confound the luck."
So selfish and unapologetic was Ed that Retta hung up the
receiver with a bang. How it relieved her feelings that the tele-
phone was in Grandma's room, two doors from the dining room.
No one had heard a word. She would dismiss the affair from
her mind and try, with Herman's aid, to make a complete suc-
cess of the evening.
542 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
But in a few moments the phone rang again and Aunt Louise,
covered with embarrassment, summoned Retta the second time to
leave her guests.
"Retta," said Ed, "I'm all ready but I can't find my car. It's
lot in the garage. Wfhat am I to do ? Oh, say, that reminds me,
£ believe I left it in Newel's front yard. Yes, I've been out for
a lark with Newel. Great time we had ! Say, Retta, I'll be there
after a while. I'll go and get — "
"Never mind, Ed. Never mind. Don't hurry, whatever you
do." Thus finishing the conversation, Retta calmed her inner
feelings as best she could and brightened her face with a forced
smile as she returned to the table. She found her guests laugh-
ing merrily.
"You missed a fine story," whispered Ralph. Herman soon
told another one equally good. As the dinner progressed Retta
felt relieved and glad. She resolutely pushed into the background
her dismay concerning Ed, and determined to be gay and gracious
to all.
Instead of the pantomime, Retta asked Herman to introduce
a Swiss folk dance. It's novelty charmed the dancers and they
repeated it again and again from sheer delight.
On viewless wings the hours passed, and at last, when nearly
everyone had gone home, Herman lingered by the door to bid his
charming hostess goodbye. His look was eloquence itself as he
said in his simple way, "Retta, you've been more than kind to me
tonight."
Peering at Retta and Herman from a car parked near the
front yard, was a darkly frowning face.
"So the withered hand is going to reach out and take Retta
away from me ?" growled Ed under his breath. "I'll wait for him
on the corner of Center and First West, and when I get his eye,
I'll make his duty clear to him."
So Ed watched for Herman on the corner. An appalling
traffic jam, yet he was easily identified pacing along with the
others.
A rumbling truck rounding the comer — a mother's anguished
scream for her child, and then Ed saw Herman leap in front of
the truck, snatch the baby boy and hurl him toward his mother.
It was all over within the twinkling of an eye.
A huge policeman stooped and gathered Herman tenderly in
his arms.
"Here! Here!" cried Ed. "Bring him to my car. I'll see
that he's taken care of."
Half an hour later, Herman lay with bandaged head in a
clean, white hospital cot. Ed hovered over him with ceaseless
vigilance.
"I guess I'm pretty much done for," said Herman to Ed.
ED'S DELUSION 543
"Oh, you'll be better soon," said Ed, although he knew full
well the hopelessness of Herman's condition.
"In case I'm not, I'd like you to take a message to your sweet-
heart for me."
"Tell me, Herman."
"She's one person to whom I'm willing to explain the cause
of my afflicted right hand."
"Yes, Herman, go on if you can," whispered Ed.
"It came about through an accident acquired at my birth."
"At your birth?"
"Yes, Ed. The doctor, though a good man, had a notion
that drinking a little wine once in a while wouldn't hurt him. The
night I was born this doctor had attended a wine wedding. He
left the wedding and came directly to my mother's bedside unfit
for his serious task. In ushering me into the world, he somehow
did permanent injury to my right hand. I've really never cared
to speak of it to anyone, but Retta wished to know for herself. So
just tell her that it was all through the mistake of a good man
who thought that a little wine once in a while wouldn't hurt him."
There was silence in the room for many moments, broken at
length by a low sob from Ed.
"Is that all I'm to tell her, Herman?"
"Yes, Ed."
And in that moment Ed knew, by the invincible surmise of
his soul, that the withered hand had reached out and saved him
from himself.
Harvest
By Vesta Pierce Crawford
This day I have beea harvesting.
In my gorgeous gleanings here
Behold the colors of a painted year.
I walked beneath a bannered tree
And passed by flaunted field;
I touched a blazing flower face
And plucked from heavy vine,
With Autumn walked and made her colors mine.
Health Work in the Schools
By David H. Fowler
Three million persons is the number authoritatively
given as the average sick list for this country. To this number,
I judge that we could conservatively add as many more who
are somewhat ailing, but are still "holding down" jobs or
attending to daily work; not sick enough to go to bed, yet
dare not stop work. Many of them cannot afford either to
say or to think they are out of health.
Thus, 6,000,000 people in the United States are not enjoying
good health. Placing our population at 150,000,000, which
perhaps is high, and allowing the usual five to the family,
gives 30,000,000 families affected by lack of health.
Do you see what this means? As we count homes along
any street, city, or country, every fifth house or apartment
contains a person suffering from some kind of ill health.
To draw a pessimistic picture is useless unless it leads
us to face the facts — with a remedy in view. Wise men tell
us that the first step in solving a problem is to face the facts, how-
ever disagreeable.
The net of man's experience since the dawn of history,
shows him that while his body is a marvelously tough ma-
chine, adjustable and adaptable to an amazing degree, yet
it is in some respects a delicate mechanism. Nature has had
a hard task to develop a body that will withstand all the
conditions to which some people subject themselves. In the
second place, there are hereditary tendencies to certain physi-
cal weaknesses in some human beings, accentuated by a low
state of health of the mother during the period of gestation.
So there are two good reasons why a few common-sense
health habits cannot be ignored without paying the price.
The price is as fearful as our opening paragraph suggests.
How we pay and when, was suggested to the writer by
the large number of people we hear complaining of some
chronic physical ill in middle life. That it is then, for many
of them, too late to act, redoubles the tragedy of it.
There is one time for every parent to think this thing
through and to get ready to guide each child away from the
dark, grey road these six million travel. That is before the
child's birth. The best time for health-habit forming is from
birth to school age. Since much of it is left to the schools, the
kindergarten teacher must begin on it at once, by simple
HEALTH WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. 545
"health chores", which are expanded somewhat as the learner
goes from grade to grade.
What these simple "health chores" are is common knowl-
edge to parents. If carrying them out as a program equalled
this knowledge, this article never would have come to a pub-
lisher's desk.
Some parents have for years had a close view of the Mod-
ern Crusaders' Health Chores for children, for the reason that
some school districts have been guided by superintendents
with a clear vision of what is of first value to school children
and with moral courage to make this health work really
"fasten upon" the pupils' minds. In the hands of each eight-
year-old is placed a score card, with his name on it, which
really represents an expansion of the program of simple health
practices given to six-year-olds or to five-year-olds. The card
looks like this, with spaces added at the right for the record
of four weeks :
Daily Chores
1. I washed my hands before each meal today.
2. I brushed my teeth thoroughly.
3. I tried hard to keep fingers and pencils out of my mouth
and nose.
4. I carried a clean handkerchief.
5. I drank three glasses of water, but no tea nor coffee.
6. I tried to eat only wholesome food including vegetables
and fruit.
7. I drank slowly two glasses of milk.
8. I went to toilet at regular time.
9. I played outdoors or with windows open a half hour.
10. I was in bed eleven or more hours last night, windows
open.
11. I had a complete bath on each day of the week that is
checked (x).
Tfltal number each day
Each morning the child scores himself for yesterday.
Teacher and parents survey his scoring.
The program widens each year till the sixth grade is fin-
ished or till these "chores" are confirmed as habits. In Grade
Five the score card reads thus :
Daily Chores
1. Besides my hands, I washed my face, ears, and neck. I
combed or brushed my hair today.
2. I cleaned my teeth after breakfast and the evening meal,
brushing front, back, and chewing surfaces of all teeth.
3. I did not use a "common" cup or towel. I coughed or spit
only when necessary and was careful to protect others.
546 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
4. I was careful to keep myself and my desk neat, and helped
keep the whole school and grounds in order.
5. I drank four glasses of water and no tea, coffee, nor any
harmful drinks. I did not wash my food down.
6. I chewed my food thoroughly, ate slowly and did not run
soon after meals.
7. I ate either some beans, eggs, cheese, fish or meat at one
meal. I ate watery vegetables or fruit.
8. I attended to toilet at my regular time, and washed my
hands afterwards.
9. I tried to keep good posture and to breathe fresh air al-
ways, through my nose.
10. I was in bed ten or more hours last night, windows open.
I stretched out "long" when waiting for sleep.
11. I took a full bath on each day of the week that is checked
(x). I put on clean underwear at least once this week.
Total number each day
Now comes the test as to whether the children are going
to "grow into" life-time habits that bring steady health and
zest for life, or whether these health seeds fall on stony
ground. That test is : Does the teacher in every school room
of those tender grades make a daily check-up of each pupil's
score card and let it be known by all that she makes such check-
up ? If that is done and done through the early years, the child
grows into a natural, common-sense way of living, which
steers him away from the physical ills that bite so deeply into
middle age.
When these few simple health practices are confirmed as
habits in the youngster, he or she attends to them automat-
ically and even experiences distress of mind if something
blocks the way, if only for once, of doing one of them. And
since they come to be attended to automatically, there is no
danger of ailments that arise from turning the mind back
upon the bodily organs. It is often so turned in middle life,
when a carelessly treated body, beginning to protest, painfully
fights back.
The teacher's daily check-up of these "health chores" is
vitalized and reinforced by frequent discussions with her class
of the whys and wherefores of each point in them. With
stories, poster-making, games and dramatizations, she ampli-
fies in interesting style and popularizes the whole matter.
Individual examinations of children by the school nurse,
and the correction of their defects by a physician when her
findings reveal it necessary, is the other wing of the bluebird
of physical happiness.
For a school head to engineer a program like this takes
both vision and moral courage. He cannot go into it half-
HEALTH WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. 547
heartedly; yet to arouse teachers to full cooperation requires
energy and enthusiasm. By a hundred devices he must edu-
cate his public. And here comes the test of his courage : The
mass of the public, inclined to resist all change, hug delusively
what is and fight all efforts to introduce what ought to be.
Among the people, however, there is ever a sprinkling of the
more enlightened public. These form the nucleus of the for-
ward-looking educators' strength, acting as the first-line de-
fense. The work is accomplished when educators themselves
see clearly and are willing to devote vast energy to their work.
Dr. Cabot, national authority, suggests that the best book
on health is the short one. Anyone, child or adult, can learn
the few simple things about it that need to be learned ; and it
cannot be much trouble to carry them out.
I imagine that every person already lives some of these
habits. All one needs to do is to start with the others.
For anyone to clutter up his mind with a great number
of faddish rules of health will slow down his work. Such a
course diverts the mind upon the body — a condition that
breeds ill health. The main idea is, whatever your age, start
today on this little cpmmon-sense program and stick to it.
Gay October
By Jessie Sundwall
All red and gold comes gay October dancing,
With magic gifts her basket running o'er,
She scatters wide a gorgeous trail of color,
And leaves her ripened fruit beside my door.
She clears the air of summer's heavy sweetness,
That we may see a sky of brighter blue ;
She filters tinkling waters for the brooklet,
And sends it sparkling on to us anew.
So crisp and fresh comes gay October dancing ;
The morning's frosty breath is here to stay ;
Then (greet the golden harvest month in passing ;
Too soon alas, October hies away.
THE GARDEN
Ramona's Marriage Place
Beauty and Romance of Ramona's
Marriage Place
By Glen Perrins
Nestled in the quiet center of Old Town, the very beginning
of California, established in 1769, lies the picturesque and romantic
mission, "Ramona's Marriage Place. " It was here that the brown-
robed Franciscan, Juniper Serra, planted the cross and erected the
first of the chain of twenty-one missions which dot El Camino
Real, the King's Highway, from San Diego to Sonoma.
What a beautiful spot ! Thomas P. Getz, the owner, says :
"There's a certain charm about it,
WHth its flowers and the bees,
That seems to rest your spirit
And set your heart at ease.
It brings back fond old memories,
That time cannot efface,
And you feel that God is smiling
On 'Ramona's Marriage Place.' "
Years ago the sleepy little hamlet Old Town did not realize
the romance and sentiment attached to Ramona's Marriage Place,
but that was before Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson wrote the throb-
bing love story, "Ramona," so filled with life and sympathy. The
story sent a thrill around the world. The old church with the
first Mission Bells brought from Spain, became well known and
appreciated over night. The palm trees, the old graveyard, with
RAM ON A S MARRIAGE PLACE
549
THE WISHING WELL
Ramona's Marriage Place
crumbling walls and faded wooden headboards, became famous.
Everyone wanted to see the first brick house in Southern Cal-
ifornia.
Old Town became a beauty spot resplendent. Tourists by the
hundreds stopped and have since stopped each year to see the won-
THE FOUNTAIN
Ramona's Marriage Place
550
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
derful marriage place of Ramona, where she and Allessandro, her
Indian sweetheart, were married in the old chapel near the Plaza
in Old Town, San Diego.
The front of Ramona's Marriage Place occupies the entire
block and each wing is almost 100 feet long. The adobe house
with its thick walls rests upon huge timbers bound together with
rawhide thongs. "Built originally in 1825 by Don Jose Antonio
Estudillo, a pure Castilian, whose family was prominent in Cal-
ifornia Mission history,'' says Mr. Getz, "it became the favorite
gathering place for the culture and refinement of Southern Cal-
ifornia and the generosity and hospitality of the Estudillos made
THE SPANISH OVEN
Ramona's Marriage Place
them beloved by all. * * * The tender tradition of Ramona's
marriage, which had taken place within this house, never departed
from it."
The beautiful story of Ramona has cast a spell over the
place. The Patio or courtyard shelters beautiful yellow acacia,
olive and pepper trees, shrubbery, climbing vines, roses and old
fashioned flowers. Orange trees, lemon, loquat, fig, mulberry,
guava, zapata, and Catilia cherry trees all blossom and fruit in
season there.
One of the beauty spots in Ramona's marriage place is the
wishing well. At this romantic place thousands of tourists each
year drink of the sparkling waters, toss a coin into the well, and
wish. It is said that many of the wishes are granted. The god-
dess of Good Luck extends her best and choicest favors to trav-
elers at Ramona's Marriage Place. A grape vine, grown from a
RAM ON A' S MARRIAGE PLACE 551
cutting taken from the grave of Napoleon at St. Helena, twines
about the arbor, always green.
In the museum rooms at Ramona's Marriage Place are hun-
dreds of quaint old relics of the past — Indian prayer sticks, bead
work and statuettes, autographed letters, curios, etc. One also
gets a glimpse in the garden of the "Caretta" of Broad Wheeled
Mexican wagon over 200 years old, and also of the old Spanish
bake. oven.
On a slab of redwood in the garden some unknown poet has
written :
TO RAMONA
The world may burn, the sun may quench
Its fiery splendor in some vast celestial sea ;
The moon and stars may fade, like love of fickle jade ;
It matters not, so long as I have thee.
Prayer
By Claire Stewart Boyer
Prayer may ride on the Autumn wind
And miss the gates of heaven ;
But to the kneeling one it gives
A sort of leaven.
Prayer may stifle in a room
Too suffocant for peace;
But to the one whose lips move on
It (brings release.
And whether prayer sing in the heart of a king,
Or whether a fool make plea,
To each is left that blessed boon —
A true humility.
Prayer may ride ion the Winter wind,
Nor reach the gates above;
But to the soul that prays is born
New hope, new love.
Tea and Coffee
By Harold L. Snow
Let us be strict in our abstinence from drinking tea and cof-
fee, as well as in our observance of the Word of Wjisdom generally.
When we study the situation, we may be able to see why Brigham
Young made the "advice" given us by the Lord through the eighty-
ninth section of the Doctrine and Covenants a "law" of the
Church. We probably then will quite willingly accept that good
Fatherly advice given us by One who sees so much better than we
can what is good for us and just what is not.
A pure body and a clean mind are usually willing to make a
little sacrifice for something that will draw them a step or two
closer to that "Great Power for Good" which is our love for and
testimony of the Lord. Tea, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco, along
with failure to pay tithing, may all be compared to little worms
that gradually eat away the strong foundation of our testimony
that the gospel is true.
So here are a few facts concerning the effects of tea and cof-
fee on the human body, to show that both are harmful to the sys-
tem, just as the Lord suggested in the Word of Wisdom. No;
they are not so bad as some of the stronger poisons ; but they are
injurious to our health and longevity, not to mention their effects
on character development'.
If a person leads a normal life and is able to master his
temper, artificial stimulants will not be necessary to make him "be
himself," nor to act as a consolation factor whenever disappointed
or depressed. The drug caffein contained in coffee is present in
amounts varying from one to two percent. The ordinary cup of
coffee contains from one and a half to three grains of the drug.
This is as much as the physician gives as a dose of medicine in
many cases to people whose sickness requires caffein to offset some
physical depression.
Because of the increase in blood pressure resulting from the
caffein, coffee should be absolutely forbidden people who have
hardening of the arteries, a disease occasionally present in those
past middle age. Coffee does, for a time, brace one up for work-
ing. But the work is paid for with interest by the tearing down
of important organs of the body. One of the first questions asked
a nervous individual when taking a physical examination is "Do
you drink coffee or tea ?"
As far as the stomach is concerned, coffee is not so injurious
as tea, which also contains caffein in addition to a greater supply
of tannin than is in coffee. Especially when there is an over-
TEA AND COFFEE 553
acidity of the stomach they should be avoided. In general, coffee
is decidedly injurious in affections of the stomach.
Personally, I have never drunk a cup of tea nor coffee in my
life: about twenty-five years. I am thoroughly convinced of the
fact that tea and coffee are meant for medicines, and that the hab-
itual use of them makes drug addicts of us to a certain degree.
Besides the ill effects of habit-formation which go with the drink-
ing of tea or coffee, there is the unnecessary stimulation along with
various other evil effects which are called by some the "wear and
tear" on the body. These effects result not only from the caffein,
but also from the tannin and other constituents of tea and coffee.
In the case of us Latter-day Saints all these and other bad
effects are bundled up together with the breaking of a religious
principle. We have a good gospel. Let us try hard to live it, not
only in regard to some but according to all the principles which
have been given to us.
Message and Characters of the Book of Mormon
We are gratified to welcome another book intended to extend
appreciation for the Book of Mormon. It comes at an opportune
time and is a fitting contribution to mark the centenary of the
publication of the book. In a sense it is the story of the Book of
Mormon with some of its divine teachings, told through its charac-
ters, therefore is very properly entitled, Message and Characters of
the Book of Mormon. It is told in modern English, and grips the
reader with its fascinating style. The task is not an easy one|;
consequently we congratulate the author, John Henry Evans, on
his signal success.
A thing worthy of note is the fact that the spirit of the book
has been preserved. It emphasizes what is perhaps the most
important message in the Book of Mormon — the testimony that
Jesus is the Christ, which all the prophets bear witness to.
Each chapter opens with a story or a bit of philosophy that
adds to the interest of the chapter. As an example, we include
the following from Chapter Thirteen :
"Hold a fresh lily to your eye and examine its wonders — its
white purity, its exquisite outlines, its delicate tracings that no
human hand can ever hope to match. And yet all this rich beauty
has been made out of mud and slime that gives you a shudder just
to look at it. Through the fine arteries of that long, tender stem
shooting up out of the still water, in silence and without effort,
554 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
that filth has been lifted up and been transformed into a thing of
incomparable loveliness.
"It is often so in human life. Good may be got out of every-
thing— provided we have a transformer inside us. A lightning
stroke that killed his companion made Martin Luther a monk.
The ridiculous shoutings and other emotional antics of a religious
revival turned Joseph Smith's thoughts to God. And the horrible
murder of the Prophet Abinadi awoke in one of Noah's priests a
conscience that stirred up great masses to religious devotion.
Truly, the blood of a martyr is the seed of the Church, as has
been proved over and over again in the history of the world.
"This chapter, therefore, is to tell of one of these wonder-
working miracles in the human heart, which have often been
known to transform a man into something that surpasses even the
splendor of the lily."
The titles of the chapters have a modern smack and add to
the interest of the book ; for example, "Two Thousand Boy
Scouts, "A Nephite Iago."
We wish to say something about the mechanics of the book.
It is one of the very finest books from a mechanical standpoint
ever turned from the press by a local author. It is a beautiful
book, bound in brown leather, with a full size statue of the Angel
Moroni in gold and a gilded representation of the plates upon the
cover. The paper and print are of excellent quality ; they are
soft to the eyes, making easy reading. It is a source of gratification
to have a book issued in such thoroughly artistic form. It should
be said in passing that the drawings illustrating ancient American
culture and civilization are the work of John Henry Evans, Jr.
When the Sun is Blotted Out
A total eclipse of the sun is a rare sight, indeed; scientists
often travel halfway around the earth to observe the phenomenon,
which seldom lasts, in any one spot, more than four or five minutes.
It is an awesome spectacle to watch the sun disappear, to become
aware of darkness shrouding the landscape, to see the stars "come
out," and to be startled by the flaming corona of the sun — the
blazing gases that fling themselves out into space beyond the black
disc that hides the sun itself.
In an eclipse the sun fails. Primitive peoples become afraid
thinking perhaps some god has been offended and has blotted out
the sun forever. Indeed, the very word eclipse suggests this fail-
ing, for, according to Webster's New International Dictionary,
it comes from the Greek for "a forsaking, failing." When the
sun forsakes the earth in an eclipse scientists quiver with expec-
tancy and excitement while the ignorant tremble in mortal alarm.
Notes From the Field
N orthcentral States Mission
A most interesting report of the Relief Society activities in
the Northcentral States Mission reached the office shortly after the
release of President John G. and Sister Allred. Accompanying the
letter was a fine photograph of the Minneapolis Branch Relief
Society.
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MINNEAPOLIS BRANCH RELIEF SOCIETY
Northcentral States Mission
Sister Allred writes : "I wish to acknowledge the hearty co-
operation and help that we have received from the district presi-
dents and lady missionaries. Sometimes I think that without their
support and wise counsel we could scarcely have carried on, espe-
cially where numbers were few. All of these branches in the last
four years have held bazaars, food sales, and in many other ways
have worked hard to acquire funds. The Minneapolis and St.
Paul, as also the Winnipeg sisters, have put on plays and pageants.
"I am pleased to report that our Magazine subscriptions have
increased from 51 in 1925, to 95 in 1928. We hear many good
things about the Magazine, and find that those who take it are the
ones who best appreciate the lesson work. The new theology les-
sons have been very much enjoyed, as also the literary lessons and
social service."
The mission was organized in 1925, the membership steadily
increasing. In the larger cities summer work has been tried, but
so many members go on vacations or move into the country for
556
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
the summer that it has been scarcely worthwhile. During the
year 1928, Sister Allred visited and held conferences in all the
branch Relief Societies. There are nine branches in the mission.
All are in good working order, being led by capable and efficient
women who have a warm testimony of the gospel.
"In closing I would like to express my joy and satisfaction in
being able to help in this work. It has been a great pleasure to
mingle with the sisters and to help out whenever I could. It is
unnecessary to say that with genuine regrets I am leaving many
wonderful people. However, we are ready to welcome Sister
Welling ; and I am sure that every sister in the mission will sustain
the splendid work of the Relief Society."
Northwestern States Mission.
A letter from Sister Pearl C. Sloan, mission president, says :
"We are very proud of the work of this Relief Society, of which
we are sending the picture*.
MISSOULA BRANCH RELIEF SOCIETY
Northwestern States Mission
With one exception every member of the Missoula, Montana,
Relief Society is on the picture ; the sister who is not there was ill
at the time.
"We have had an unusual year's work, and are looking for-
ward with pleasure to the next season."
In Missoula, Montana, a Relief Society was organized Octo-
ber 31, 1928. There are 27 members of this organization, the
picture of which appears, and 26 out of the 27 are subscribing for
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
557
the Magazine. "We are happy to have the Book of Mormon for
the theology lessons next season, and feel that it will help us
greatly in the missionary work. Members of the various Relief
Societies are planning to read the Book of Mormon during their
vacation. The Kelso, Washington, Relief Society is offering a prize
of a year's subscription to the Relief Society Magazine, to the first
sister finishing the reading of the Book of Mormon."
Northern States Mission.
News from still another one of our progressive missions:
Sister Allie Y. Pond writes : "On July 28, we had a conference
with four of our districts at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was a wonderful
gathering — something I shall never forget."
Throughout this mission the benefit of the Relief Society to
young mothers has been stressed.
YOUNG MOTHERS
University Branch, Northern States Mission
"The enclosed picture is a photograph of the young mothers,
and is evidence that the efforts of the leaders in this branch have
been most successful."
Juab Stake.
On June 25, 1929, with appropriate exercises in the tabernacle,
the Juab stake commemorated the organization of the Relief So-
ciety. Members from all parts of the stake and General Board
representatives were in attendance.
558 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
A movement is now actively under way to exterminate the
flies in this community. The campaign is sponsored by the Juab
stake Relief Society. A committee consisting of Mrs. Itha B.
Parkes and Mrs. Ethel C. Gadd, has taken the responsibility of
having fly traps made and sold to the citizens at a minimum cost.
With the assistance of the Boy Scouts, a number of effective traps
have been constructed, and it is planned to have enough to supply
all the homes of the city.
As an indication of the interest and support of the citizens
in this movement, at the initial display of the trap, orders were
given for the entire supply now ready for distribution. The cam-
paign to rid the community of flies is meeting with gratifying co-
operation from citizens in all walks of life.
Lehi Stake.
On July 9, 1929, under the direction of the Lehi stake Relief
Society, an enthusiastic group of sisters met at the Lehi Fifth
ward chapel to celebrate the stake's first birthday. A program,
excellent in drama and music, was provided. An outstanding-
feature of the afternoon was a history given of the Lehi Relief
Society, beginning with its temporary organization in 1865, up to
the present time. A cut glass vase full of choice roses was pre-
sented to eleven of the fourteen surviving members of the per-
manent organization, effected October 27, 1867, under the direc-
tion of Sisters Eliza R. Snow and Sarah Kimball. A color scheme
of white and gold was carried out. After luncheon an exhibit of
the handwork done by the Relief Society members was opened for
the public.
Sunflowers
By Kate Thomas
Down on West Temple just above Third South
In some garage place there's a bunch of gold
That gleams as ifair as any pirates' hoard
Grilled on the rock of any barren isle.
Sunflowers ! Sunflowers ! happy yellow things
Flirting with gay old Sol; bowing to his whims
As lord of day and flattering his conceit,
But never caring really ; just glad.
There with the line of junk shops, dirty bricks,
(The moulders of a city seldom know
The glory of a street they let run down!)
They send their broad smile through the smoke and filth.
One could not pass without an answering smile.
Oh, truly, sunflowers know just where to grow.
Guide Lessons for December
LESSON I
Theology and Testimony
(First Week in December)
BOOK OF MORMON
Lesson 3 : Teachings of Jacob, Lehi's Son
1. This lesson, which centralizes thought and discussion on
the teachings of Jacob, son of Lehi, covers the Book of Mormon
from page 70, chapter 5, to page 106, chapter 25.
I. Narrative.
1. The colony divides into
(a) Nephites, and
(b) Lamanites.
2. Conditions of Nephites.
(a) Distance (many days).
(b) From tents to buildings.
(c) Temple for worship.
(d) Industries.
(e) Religious life.
II. Doctrines Taught (chapters 9, 10).
1. The resurrection.
(a) It is literal.
(b) It has been taught often.
2. The Atonement of Christ.
(a) Jesus is to appear among Jews.
(b) Christ is God.
(c) Resurrection is universal as the fall.
(d) Atonement must be "infinite"; that is, divine.
3. The Spirit of Man.
(a) There is a human spirit.
(b) Spirit without a body subject to devil.
(c) Spirit , knows guilt or innocence after resurrection.
(d) After resurrection men are "righteous" or "filthy"
still.
4. Qualities of God.
(a) Righteousness.
(b) Mercy.
(c) Justice.
5. Woes pronounced upon.
(a) The "learned" in things of this world only.
(b) The rich in things of this world only.
560 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
(c) The deaf as to things of God.
(d) The blind as to things of God.
(e) The liar.
(f) Those who "commit whoredom."
(g) The idolators.
6. Invitation to come to Christ.
2. The words of Jacob, found especially in chapters 9 and 10,
constitute a very remarkable exposition of doctrines, one of the
finest we have in any sacred book. Also it is remarkable in some of
its ways of putting these teachings.
To summarize its ideas, we have there the idea that there is
a human spirit distinct from the body; that this spirit will, after
death, be reunited with the body literally ; that Jesus Christ is God
and will offer himself for sin ; that the atonement must be by some
divine person in order to be efficacious ; that God has devised a
"plan" for the salvation of man, through which are shown His
mercy, justice, and goodness ; that this plan is free to all, "without
money and without price ;" that things of the spirit are not to be
known through human learning, but only through revelation.
Jacob is here speaking not from information derived from
reading books, but from absolute knowledge derived from expe-
rience. He says himself that an angel appeared to him and taught
him divine things, and Nephi tells us that "Jacob also has seen him
[the Lord] as I have seen him." Here then is the unadulterated
testimony of one who is a witness of the things concerning which he
speaks.
In these days when everybody thinks himself competent to
speak of spiritual matters — heaven and hell, angels and devils, the
human soul and immortality, God and Jesus Christ — too much
emphasis cannot be placed on this matter of the source of knowl-
edge of divine things. For there is a distinction between what we
experience and what we read, between m,ere information and
knowledge. When a person has experienced religious truth, he is
competent to talk about religious truth, and not otherwise. This
would rule out such persons as Clarence Darrow, Luther Burbank,
and others when they tell us that there is no human spirit or a
future world, because they are telling us what they think, not what
they know through experience. And this distinction cannot be
called to the attention of our younger generation too oiten. Be-
cause a man is an authority in law or biology or what not is no
reason why his utterances are of any value on religion.
3. One of the chapters quoted in the lesson from the Prophet
Isaiah includes that oft-repeated phrase about "beating swords into
plowshares and spears into pruning hooks." Professor Moulton
says about this passage in Isaiah in its whole setting : "Quite apart
from any question of theology, it may be said that no more
precious legacy of thought has come down to us from antiquity than
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 561
this Hebrew conception of a golden age to come. It is difficult to
overestimate the bracing moral influence of an ideal future. The
classical thought of Greece and Rome took an opposite course ; their
age of gold was in the remote past, the progress of time was a
decline, and the riches of philosophy claimed to be no more than
a precious salvage. The result was the moral paralysis of fatalism,
or at best individualism. The imaginative pictures of Biblical
prophecy inspire spiritual energy by bringing a future to work for,
and, on the other hand, the weakness of a luxurious optimism is
avoided in the writings of an author who, while he puts forth all
his powers to exalt the future, insists always that the only way of
entrance to this future is the forcible purging out of evil.,, — In-
troduction to Isaiah in the Modern Reader's Bible.
4. Of the thirty-five pages covered by the present lesson,
twenty-one pages are quoted from Isaiah. The passages quoted
are almost identical with those by that Prophet in our English
Bible.
Nephi and J&cob both, it seems, laid great store by Isaiah's
writings, as also did our Savior when he visited the Nephites, after
his resurrection. Nephi excuses himself for quoting so much from
Isaiah by saying that "whoso of my people shall see these words,
may lift up their hearts for all men," thus expressing exactly the
same idea of "a bracing moral influence" just quoted from Pro-
fessor Moulton. In all, sixteen chapters are thus included complete
in the two Books of Nephi, besides isolated passages here and there.
And Jesus in his personal ministry among the Nephites quotes one
chapter, with the introductory clause, "Great are the words of
Isaiah."
It appears that the mind of the average Nephite struggled as
much as the average modern mind in its endeavor to understand
the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. For Nephi explains that
"Isaiah spoke many things which were hard for many of my people
to understand." And he tells us why they found them hardj to
comprehend. It was because, having for the most part been born
after Lehi and his party had left Jerusalem, "they knew not con-
cerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews." This is the
reason, in the main, why we also find the old prophets difficult,
especially Isaiah.
For one thing, the prophets were always more or less dra-
matic, as when Jeremiah went about the streets of Jerusalem with
a common yoke on his neck to show his countrymen that the Ba-
bylonish king would take them captive. And for another thing,
they often spoke of the future as if it were present, as when Isaiah,
more than six hundred years before the event, says concerning
Christ, "He is despised and rejected of men."
It is interesting also to note the striking difference between
such a prophet as Isaiah and the Nephite writers when their proph-
562 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ecies concern the same thing. Both Isaiah and Jacob, for instance,
speak of the coming and the earthly ministry of Christ. But the
language of the Hebrew prophet is highly figurative and imagina-
tive, even poetic, while that of the Nephite is couched in homely,
plain, understandable phrases, such as one person would use to
another. The result is greater clarity in the latter, but greater
beauty in the former. That is why the writings of Isaiah are prized
today for their expressoin almost as much as for their substance.
It may, of course, be that this difference is due in part to the
languages in which these two men wrote, but it was due most likely
in the greater part to what Nephi calls "the manner of proph-
esying."
5. Recurring to the thought that Jacob is an expert in things
of the spirit, we ought to add another thought in this lesson.
It has become fashionable in certain quarters in our times to
deny the existence of a personal devil, of angels, of a personal God
even, as well as of a human spirit as a thing of itself. The best
answer to such a teaching is to set beside these negative ideas,
which admittedly have no basis at all in a spiritual experience, the
very positive ideas of Jacob and men like him, who experienced the
things they talk about.
Experience is the only way in which we can really know any-
thing. This has been said before, but it can hardly be said too
often in days like ours when those who have no experience in spirit-
ual matters talk as glibly and as loudly about religion as those who
have had such experience. How then can a person without that
experience expect to be seriously listened to when he tells us that
there is no such being as a personal devil, or a personal God, or
angels, or another life ? The idea itself is negative, and you can-
not of necessity experience what does not exist. About all one
can really say in the situation is that one does not believe in these
things ; one cannot by any possibility know that they do not exist.
Compare with this the absolute knowledge of Jacob in the
text. He knew because he had experienced. He had seen God, he
had been visited by angels, he had felt the power of the Holy
Ghost. It was not guesswork with him, it was not a conjecture, nor
the result of the reasoning processes ; it was a knowledge based on
experience. This knowledge any one can obtain for himself, just
as Jacob received it. Indeed, Nephi makes a point of this. He
had tried to get all his brothers to go to the Lord for confirmation
of their father's visions, as he, Nephi, had done. And Jacob had
followed Nephi's advice, and received knowledge direct from God.
Questions
1. What was the cause of division in the colony of Lehites?
Tell some of the results of this division to both sections.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 563
2. Why is this text (chapters 9, 10) so remarkable? Who
was Jacob ? How did he get his knowledge of the things he spoke
about ? -
3. What does he say of the human spirit, of the resurrection,
of the atonement, of God, of the cost of salvation? What is
meant by the term "plan" as applied to salvation ? Does salvation
cost anything?
4. What is the difference between "information" and "knowl-
edge?" How do men obtain knowledge of spiritual truth? Why
don't people have a right to speak of spiritual things when they have
not had spiritual experience ? Apply this thought to the scholars of
our own day.
5. Give the substance of the quotation from Professor Moul-
ton concerning Isaiah. Can you think of any ideas taught by our
Church that furnish such a moral stimulus by looking forward ?
How can this forward look be made more powerful in our lives
today ?
6. Contrast the teachings of the text and the ideas that pre-
vail today on the topics mentioned there. On what grounds would
you place your preference for the Book of Mormon teachings
respecting these points ?
LESSON II
Work and Business
(This topic is to be given at the special teachers' meeting the first
week in December)
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR DECEMBER
Reverence and Respect
I. Reverence for God and respect for worthiness in mankind
are prerequisites for progress and perfection.
Real life rises no higher than the ideal.
We grow like what we revere.
II. Reverence is an unconditional fealty to some one com-
pletely worthy of respect and love. ...
"It is an affection, a love, as positive, real, warm and impera-
tive in its demands for activity, as the parental instinct."
It is best expressed in prayer and service.
III. Respect is a just regard for the worth of self and others.
564 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
It is the power of discerning and taking delight in what is
beautiful in visible form, and lovely in human character; and,
necessarily, striving to produce what is beautiful in form and to
become what is lovely in character. — Ruskin.
It is best expressed in a clean personal life and in tolerance
and sympathy for mankind.
IV. Reverence and respect can be cultivated throughout life.
Small children learn reverence and respect through learning
obedience; being great imitators, they follow the example set by
their elders.
Adolescents are influenced chiefly by ideals worthy of rev-
erence and respect. Adolescence is the period of hero-worship.
Adults can cultivate reverence and respect in adolescents ( 1 ) by
service to worthy causes, and (2) by themselves showing greater
veneration for established customs and beliefs.
V. Reverence and respect are part of our civic, religious, and
personal life.
Reverence is the chief joy and power of life — reverence for
what is pure and bright in your own youth; for what is true
and tried in the age of others; for all that is gracious among the
living, great among the dead and marvelous in the powers that
cannot die. — Ruskin.
The preamble to the -Declaration of Independence recognizes
a "decent respect for the opinions of mankind."
Bacon says, "Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed
from a due reverence to God."
VI. Reverence and respect will lead to :
Development of personality by emulation of high ideals.
Support of worthy laws and customs.
Tolerance and sympathy for humankind.
Greater faith and satisfaction in obeying the laws of God.
Copies of A Son of the Middle Border are now available at
$1.00 each, postpaid. Orders should be addressed to Deseret Book
Company, 44 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah.
The lesson outline on A Son of the Middle Border is scheduled
to appear in the November number of the Magazine.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 565
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in December)
An American Idyll
By Cornelia Strait an Parker
Cornelia Stratton Parker, author of An American Idyll, was
born in Oakland, California, September 1, 1885. She took her A. B.
degree from the University of California in 1907. She later did
post-graduate work at the same university and at the University
of Washington. In 1907 she married Carleton Hubbell Parker, who
died March 17, 1918. They had three children, Carleton Hubbell,
James Stratton, and Alice Lee. In 1919 Mrs. Parker moved, toi
New York, where she worked in factories in order to write for
Harper's magazine articles on the factory worker. She also lec-
tured on labor problems. In 1923-26 she went to Europe and lived
in Geneva, Switzerland. She has written a number of interesting
articles and books. Among these are: An American Idyll, 1919;
Working with the Working Women, 1922; Ports and Happy
Places, 1924; Jenny the Joyous, 1924, and other similar things'.
Her address is 140 Broadway, New York City.
When Cornelia Stratton Parker set about the business of
writing "The Life of Carleton H. Parker," her husband, which has
been entitled An American Idyll, she did it, she says, because some-
thing within her urged her to it. She felt that the world, most of
all their children, should know Jhim from the many sides which
made him, in her opinion, unique among men.
At that time Cornelia Parker probably did not know that she
was giving to the world the annals of an idyllic love which would
so catch the imagination of the American people that the book
would run through many editions. In this little book she has given
to her readers a love story so sweet, so intimate, so true, that she
has transcended fiction, proving that true romance does exist in the
world of fact as well as in the world of fancy.
A writer in The Chicago Evening Post wrote of the volume —
"If you admire strongmen and true ; if you enjoy biography, if you
like love stories, if naivete appeals to you, if a tale of happiness
well told brings you pleasure, then this book belongs on your read-
ing list. It is a book I have heard recommended a dozen times,
but no one has been able to describe its charm or fascination."
One year after the death of her husband, when success had
crowned their labors and the world seemed theirs, Cornelia began
the outpouring of this story of idyllic courtship and married life.
566 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
She seems to have opened the flood-gates of memory and to have
allowed her soul to pour out through her pen into this little book.
The story is so intimate that one can easily understand Mrs.
Parker's feelings when she learned that four thousand copies of
her biography were to be issued by the Atlantic Monthly Press.
"At that, I came down to earth with a thud," says she. "Four
thousand people reading the very inner experiences of our lives !
Why it was like these nightmares people have of appearing unclad
in public. It was terrible. I (had longed to pass on and perpetuate
for a few the personality of a great man I knew and loved. But
four thousand people— of that number so many would not under-
stand, so many would lose the beauty and helpfulness I wanted to
consecrate in the feeling that such things never should have been
shared with others."
Yet I believe she was right. Thousands will read, will under-
stand, and will be helped by this idyllic companionship of a man and
a woman.
Somebody has said that words are little buckets which come
Up full of the feeling in the heart of the writer. Mrs. Parker's
words came up full, indeed.
Here, again, we have a biography written by one who loved
deeply. Therefore, we see, naturally, only the Carleton Parker
that his wife idolized. Occasionally she hints briefly of criticism
others made of him ; but before the criticism is really voiced, she
rushes to his defense. In that, of course, as a biography, the book
is faulty. The reader knows only one side of Carleton Parker:
though, it is true, that is a fine, big, beautiful side.
One wonders as he reads if the book does not reveal Mrs.
Parker as fully as it does her husband, and if she, herself, isn't
worthy of close acquaintanceship. Few wives would have taken
the gambler's chances she did at the behest of the best of husbands.
The wife, eager to preserve her husband's fame as a sociologist
and a mediator, quotes occasionally from some of his papers ; but it
will not go. The reader hastens through to closing quotes, eager
to see again the lover-husband.
If an idyll is "a little picture," or if it is a naive, simple.,
pastoral love story, then in their case this is an idyll, for it surely
is a little picture and just as surely it is a simple naive love story.
Mrs. Parker makes no attempt to organize her subject matter, but
seems to carry on the narrative ina chronological order much as the
incidents must have come to her.
One can hardly believe that such a courtship as is described in
chapter three could have occurred in so short a time ago. It is re-
freshing to learn that a young lady can be courted on $10.25 or
"any other cheap figure," and that she can enjoy such a courtship.
Carleton H. Parker must, indeed, have been of unusual clay or
else — Mrs. Carleton Parker was.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 567
Chapter fifteen is especially delightful and might well be read
by every married couple. It is the very idyll of the idyll. Few
people have learned to live so well, for few people can so follow
their hearts without wondering what the neighbors will say about
them.
Yes, the book has charm. The language is simple, direct, but
full of feeling. It is as fresh and unconventional as the lives of
the two young people it describes. In fact, Mrs. Parker breaks a
number of rules of grammar and rhetoric occasionally — thank
goodness — but always in the interest of charm.
Through the medium of this romantic chronicle we come to
know two genuine people — democrats of the first water — who will
no doubt be of great help to us in freeing ourselves from some of
the tinsel with which we have gauded up our lives.
According to this narrative, Cornelia Stratton met Carleton
H. Parker on the campus of the University of California, Septem-
ber 3, 1903. He was a senior, she a freshman. Their acquaint-
anceship soon ripened into love, and they became engaged; but
owing to lack of funds and her father's hesitancy about giving
consent for his daughter to marry a young man with no particular
prospects, they did not marry until after her graduation. The cere-
mony took place September ,7, 1907.
Carl Parker, like many young college men, had tried all sorts
of work #nd had begun upon many careers before he finally found
his niche.
The two had dreamed of a honeymoon in Idaho, but lack of
funds and lack of time shattered their dream. Instead they hired
two old horses and a buckboard and went for a three weeks' trip up
the Rogue River in southern Oregon.
The comradarie of that honeymoon is typical of their short
married life. For that reason I shall quote a paragraph.
"That honeymoon! Lazy horses poking unprodded along an
almost deserted mountain road; glimpses of the river lined with
autumn reds and yellows ; camp made toward evening in any spot
that looked appealing — and all spots looked appealing; two fish-
rods out ; consultation as to flies ; leave-taking for half an hour's
parting, while one went up the river to try his luck, one down.
Joyous reunion, with much luck or little luck, but always enough
for supper : trout rolled in cornmeal and fried, corn on the cob just
garnered from a willing or unwilling farmer that afternoon, corn-
bread — the most luscious corn-bread in the world, baked camper-
style by the man of the party — and red, red apples, eaten by two
people who had waited four years for just that. Evenings in a
sandy nook by the river's edge, watching the stars come out above
the water. Adventures, such as losing Chocolada, the brown sev-
enty-eight-year-old horse, and finding her up to her neck in a deep
stream running through a grassy meadow with perpendicular banks
568 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
on either side. We walked miles till we found a farmer. With
the aid of himself and his tools, plus a stout rope and a tree, in an
afternoon's time we dug and pulled and hauled and yanked Choeo-
lada up and out onto dry land, more nearly dead than ever by that
time. The ancient senile had just fallen in while drinking."
The narrative continues with the struggles Parker had for
an education, but so sympathetic was Mrs. Parker and so hallowed
by love were all the discouraging days and nights that their strug-
gles were lifted into a world of high romance. What might have
been heart-breaking to some couples was heart-making to these two.
Wherever Carleton Parker went in search of education in his
field, went Cornelia Parker and their children as they came along.
After Harvard, the two of them, with only borrowed money to
live upon and with two tiny children, sailed off for Europe in
search of more sociology and economics and a Ph. D. degree.
"People .wrote us in those days," Mrs. Parker says, " 'You
brave people — think of starting to Europe with two babies !' Brave
was the last word to use. Had we worried or had fears over any-
thing, and yet fared forth, we should perhaps have been brave.
As it was, I can feel again the sensation of leaving New York,
gazing back on the city buildings and bridges bathed in sunshine
after the storm. Exultant joy was in our hearts, that was all. Not
one worry, not one concern, not one small drop of home-sickness.
We were to see Europe together, years before we had dreamed it
possible. It just seemed too glorious to be true. 'Brave?' Far
from it. Simply eager, glowing, filled to the brim with a deter-
mination to drain every day to the full."
There you have the spirit of these two of this delightful
book.
In due time the family returned, Ph. D. and all, to take up
life at Berkeley again ; he as assistant professor on $1700.00 the
year, but still the courageous, democratic lover he had always been ;
she still adoring.
Later he was called to the University of Washington as Dean
of the College of Commerce. In the meantime, however, he had
become nationally known as a mediator between capital and labor.
His last piece of work was in connection with the threatened strike
in the flour-mills during the World War. "In all he had mediated
thirty-two strikes, sat on two arbitration boards, made three cost-
of-living surveys for the Government."
On Wednesday, March 6, 1918, he took a fever, which de-
veloped into pneumonia (possibly the "flu" as it was sudden and
strange) and never recovered. He died March 17, 1918.
"His body was cremated, without any service whatever — no-
body present but one of his brothers and a great friend. The next
day the two men scattered his ashes out on the waters of Puget
Sound. I feel it was as he would have had it."
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 569
That is the simple story Cornelia Parker has told of her hus-
band. He was but forty when he died, just prepared to enter upon
his career. Despite the fact that in so short a time he had become
nationally known in his field, if the name of Carleton Parker is
to live beyond this generation, it will be because he was genuine, a
great lover, and the husband of a wife who could give to the
world An American Idyll.
Questions and Problems
1. Why did Cornelia Parker write An American Idyll? Were
her motives good ?
2. Do you get an adequate picture of the man? If not, why
not?
3. What are some of the endearing qualities he possessed?
Did his wife possess some of the same qualities ?
4. Give reasons why this book has become so popular.
5. Select and read passages that illustrate the charm of the
narrative.
Sketch of the Life of Carleton H. Parker
Carleton H. Parker, the subject of this sketch, was born
March 31, 1878, in Vacaville, California, of Western pioneer par-
entage. He had two brothers and one sister. The other two boys,
according to Mrs. Parker, had been encouraged to see the world.
Carleton planned to spend fourteen months in Europe, his serious
objective upon his return being to act as secretary to Professor
Stephens of the University of California.
During his youth, in search of means with which to continue
his college work, he worked at almost everything that a young!
Westerner might find to do. He was farmer, miner, and other
things. He even became a member of the Western Federation of
Miners.
He studied at the University of California ; there, on Sep-
tember 3, 1903, he met Cornelia Stratton, who was then in her
freshman year. He had recently returned from a trip in Idaho,
where he had been hunting with some friends. He soon became
rather well acquainted with Cornelia, and to her he related many of
his adventures. A friendship was struck up which soon changed
into love.
The two decided to marry as soon as possible, to enjoy a honey-
moon in Idaho, and to go to Persia. Mr. Stratton, Cornelia's
father, however, was not over enthusiastic, since young Parker
had nothing upon which to marry. The wedding day was therefore
postponed, but not given up. Carl went away to Europe, and
Cornelia continued with her studies until she graduated with a
Bachelor's degree,
570 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Upon his return from Europe, Carleton lectured for the Uni-
versity of California Extension Division upon trade unionism and
South Africa. On September 7, 1907, the two young people
married. Their trip to Idaho had to be abandoned, but it was
given up cheerfully, as was also the dream of Persia. The two
went for a three weeks' honeymoon on a trip up the Rogue river
in southern Oregon.
The first months of married life were a period of struggle for
the two young people. Young Parker tried the bond business, but
did not like it nor did he succeed very well. His work caused
many separations, which for the two were hard to bear. For that
reason chiefly they decided that he was to go into university work.
A period of study then ensued. Borrowed money and rigid
economy made it possible for the family to keep together, though
a son was born the year after they were married and other children
came rather regularly. They went to Cambridge, where Mr.
Parker enrolled at Harvard University. Later, in order to finish
his education in the field of economics, he went to Germany, where
he received his Ph. D. degree. They especially enjoyed Heidelberg.
Upon their return to America, Carleton Parker was engaged
as an assistant professor at the University of California and was
later taken to Seattle as Dean of the College of Commerce of the
University of Washington. He had held that position only a short
time when he died.
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in December)
Lesson 18. Summary
In this — the last — lesson we shall restate and sum up the main
facts and principles discussed in the seventeen preceding lessons,
based on The Child : His Nature and His Needs. As previously
announced, the next six lessons, January to June 1930, will cover
The Field of Social Work. No book will be required for the new
series. Monthly outlines in the Magazine will contain references
to appropriate readings.
I
The course of study we are just completing has had two pur-
poses : ( 1 ) a survey of present-day knowledge concerning child
nature ; (2) the promotion of the well-being and education of the
young. It is an attempt to furnish the parent and the social
worker with a resume of up-to-date, scientific information on
GUIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 571
child welfare. In seventeen lessons, it was possible to deal merely
with the big, broad principles involved; a wealth of minor facts
and details, remains still unexplored. It is hoped,; however, that
our members will continue their study of one or more of the sub-
jects treated.
■ ■ ■ , . .- . v ' ■•■■.: \\ i ■
The first main division of the subject dealt with our present
knowledge of child nature. Here we considered the child's in-
stincts and impulses ; his active nature and needs ; the development
of his intelligence; his social and moral growth; and, finally, his
mastery of the arts of expression.
In the first chapter, Dr. Baldwin showed that the science and
practice of child development and training are today intimately as-
sociated more than ever before in the history of psychology and
education. This fact points to many far-reaching changes in edu-
cation, In order to keep pace with this advance, teachers and
parents alike must change their methods of child-training. It was
pointed out that children differ widely; individual differences
constitute perhaps the most significant of all of the principles of
educational psychology. A third principle, also stressed at the out-
set, can be stated thus : The basis of a strong character and a
wholesome personality is a normal, healthy body.
In the matter of instincts and impulses, two things are im-
portant to remember: The first is that the infantis not an adult
in miniature, but rather a bundle of impulses and instincts, — the
raw materials out of which complicated behavior and adult per-
sonality are later built. The second is that instincts and impulses
cannot be suppressed ; they can, however, be directed and social-
ized. Wise guidance of the child's original tendencies is the chief
task of both parent and teacher.
Another major principle is that the normal, healthy child is
active, physically and mentally. Much of his activity is play,
which is an invaluable preparation for adulthood. Wise parental
guidance of the child's play-life is one key to wholesome personali-
ty and strong character. Closely related to this principle is the
fact that, other things being equal, superior minds are more likely
to be found in healthy bodies.
As we pass from the child's physical and mental development
to his moral growth, we discover a principle of great importance,
stated thus: Character is affected by a multitude of factors —
heredity, general health, food, home life, street life, school life,
newspapers, movies, parents, companions, habits of thought, occu-
pations ; therefore to ensure desirable character in a child, parents
and teachers must control all the factors directly or indirectly
affecting his moral development.
572 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
"There is no such thing as a distinct training in character
apart from the rest of the child's development." A child's person-
ality is the joint product of heredity and social influence; and to
facilitate the "abundant life," both factors must be intelligently
controlled by parents and by society.
In considering the child's mastery of the arts of expression,
we saw that language, for instance, is an extremely complicated
piece of behavior. Learning a language constitutes the child's
first educational task. It challenges and measures not only his
own mental powers, but the guidance-skill of his parents and his
teachers.
Ill
The second big division of our subject dealt with present
knowledge of child well-being. Here we examined the principles
of child-care as they are illustrated in nutrition, mental hygiene,
delinquency, the care of the intellectually inferior, and of intellec-
tually superior children.
Specifically, we saw that the five chief causes of malnutrition
are:
1. Physical defects.
2. Lack of home control.
3. Over-fatigue.
4. Faulty food habits and improper food.
5. Faulty health habits.
Chief among the principles of mental hygiene we noted the
following :
1. Most mental handicaps are preventable.
2. Almost all persons have some degree of inferiority-feel-
ing.
Compensations for actual or imagined inferiority are
quite normal. The problem of child guidance is there-
fore one of facilitating appropriate compensations.
3. All children and grown-ups normally demand a confi-
dante, i. e. some understanding person who will listen
without moralizing.
4. Many personality problems are overcome when the handi-
capped person is able, through the assistance of others, to
objectify his own problems, i. e. to analyze his own diffi-
culty as though it were the problem of another.
In problems of juvenile delinquency two sigificant principles
stand out. First, that "each delinquent child is the product of
nine or ten subversive circumstances, one as a rule preponderating
and all conspiring to draw him into crime." Second, that it is far
G VIDE LESSONS FOR DECEMBER 573
more efficient and humane to deal with children's misconduct in
a scientific way than to resort to the old, dubious process of
punishment.
The elements of a State program for the care of mental de-
fectives, we found to be:
1. Identification.
2. Registration.
3. Special education in the public schools for the high-grade
defective.
4. Segregation in a separate state school for the low-grade
defective.
5. Segregation in a separate state institution for the defective
delinquent.
We noted that twenty out of one hundred school children
selected at random are of such superiority as to demand special
education facilities and guidance. About six children out of the
average hundred warrant even more flexible classification and
more intensified guidance in the schools.
IV
The third division of the course dealt with our present knowl-
edge of education. Here we noted the obvious gap between edu-
cational theory and educational practice, a condition due primarily
to social change and the social process.
More specifically, we saw how education is becoming scien-
tific by means of (a) objective, verifiable rules and principles, (b)
the more or less successful practice of measuring the results of
instruction, and (c) the marked tendency to experimentation and
research.
Finally, we considered (a) the changing objective in educa-
tion, (b) recent modifications in the course of study, and (c)
newer techniques of teaching. The chief objective in education
to-day, is the development of a wholesome personality in the child.
By means of emphases on vocations and character, courses of
study are more or less converging to this broad purpose. The
methods, too, because of the pragmatic tests to which they are
being constantly subjected, are more efficient than ever before.
The child is a many-sided creature. His nature — though com-
plex— can be understood; and his needs — though many — can be
supplied. Intelligent parenthood is the only answer;
Questions for the Further Stimulation of Thought
1. What important principles of child care, other than
those mentioned above, do you feel should be listed in this sum-
mary?
574 m RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
2. If individuals differ so widely, why do we not attempt
more individual guidance of children, both in and out of school?
3. What are some of the safe rules for the control and
elimination of fear in children?
4. What is the nature and extent of character education in
the public schools of your community?
.5. .;. How can society regulate— if it should— the group affilia-
tions of children without supervising such groups and therefore
destroying one of the desirable aspects from the standpoint of the
child?
6. What are the mental hygiene problems of your com-
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7. Outline and consider together a program for preventing
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8. Is it necessary that education lag; behind social develop-
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Bastein La-
p , ,, Frontispiece
Domremy's' Maid' Kate Thomas 577
Joan of Arc (Statue at Orleans) 578
Fifth Centenary of Joan of Arc...
Kate Thomas 579
Young Death".'. Blanche Kendall McKey 583
Joan of Arc as Portrayed in Literature..
Blanch Kendall McKey 5S4
Joan of Arc (Bronze Equestian Statue) 591
Jean of Arc Andrew Lang 592
Joan of Arc (After the Victory) 593
Editorial— One of the Immortals 596
Joan of Arc • 597
The Maid of France in Painting and
Sculpture ;:;•,?«!
Joan's Vision Clinton Dangerfield 594
Joan of Arc (In the Luxemburg, Pans). 595
Music— Its Message.. Ida Peterson Beal 599
Gratitude Alberta H. Christensen 601
A Kind Heart Mrs. D. W. Stevenson 602
Pioneers Lais Vernon Hales 605
Notes from the Field 607
A Thanksgiving Prayer. .Elsie E. Barrott 611
Guide Lesson for January 612
Raked-Up Leaves. .Vesta Pierce Crawford 628
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
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VOL. XVI NOVEMBER, 1929
r"" ■J~g iMirw — ii -^m — ■■ ■■ — ii ■ . Man mm(*mi- i _ ■ i i i ■ m m \ m ■ ■ ■■ i i i mi i
NO. 11
S3**
JOAN OF ARC
Painting by Bbgtien- Lepage
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Domremy's Maid
By Kate Thomas
^pMREMY'S maid is standing
'neath a tree
With listening in her eyes, and
in her face
A growing purpose; fingers interlace
Then part to grasp the sword that is to be.
England be wary, oft rebuked is pride,
Better a pact with God than Burgundy.
There shall be once He is not on your side-.
Domremy's maid is standing yneath a tree.
JOAN OF ARC
Erected at Orleans, by Princess Marie of Orleans.
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI NOVEMBER, 1929 No. 11
Fifth Centenary of Joan of Arc
By Kate Thomas
Oh, to be in Paris when the guide's eyes glow as he leads
you from one to another of the Joan of Arc paintings in the
Pantheon! If wishes were horses, beggars might ride; and if
they were fishes, beggars might swim. It would not be such a
bad sensation to be geysered from the nostril of some obliging
porpoise if it landed you where you want to be — in France with
the marvelous Maid.
Character of the Maid of Orleans
No more romantic figure exists in history than Joan of Arc.
However we look at her: as the result of egotism, fanaticism,
plain downright superstition, high-souled mysticism, or pure,
spiritual worthiness in the hand of the Divine Discerner of tools,
she is still a theme for speculation, an object for the tenderest,
most reverential love.
Calm, gentle, purposeful, heroic Joan! Unschooled, but
gloriously alive little peasant girl with her patriot's heart swelling
for the woes of France. Simple, serious, dutifully domestic,
young maiden with ears strained for the voices that speak only
to her ! Keen, determined, full-armored general, raising the siege
of Orleans at seventeen years old ! Brave, brilliant strategist, fol-
lowing up her victory with a quick line of success ( Jargeau, Beau-
gency, Patay) that in but one week's time had driven the English
beyond the Loire ! Modest head of the army and exultant subject
placing the ruler of her adored country upon the throne! Be-
trayed, trapped, tricked, and tortured Maid of Orleans, Deliverer
of France, still worshipful, still true and still trusting, burned at
the stake before she had turned twenty !
The Troublous Time of Her Birth
Who so stilted that he does not thrill through this enchaining
story? Let us, from half a dozen references, summarize it briefly :
580 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
She was born in troublous times. So had been her parents
before her. War, as you know, has always been the curse of the
earth. In 1338, England and France began what was afterwards
called the Hundred Year War. Joan was born in 1412 (at
Domremy, January 6). English kings, by marrying French prin-
cesses, felt that they were heirs to the throne of France; and
the French people had too strong a national spirit to adopt that
view. Now in October of 1415, when Joan was about three, the
king of France, Charles the sixth, met the invading king of
England, Henry the fifth, at Agincourt, and was defeated.
At that time France was practically in a civil war ; and the
Burgundian faction, which favored England, was the real ruling
power.
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," says Shakespeare.
Charles sixth of France might have thought that also if he'd had
any head to do it with. But he was mentally unfit. The queen,
too, preferred a wide-awake prospective son-in-law as ruler rather
than a deranged husband. So four years after this decisive battle of
Agincourt the queen and the Burgundians made a treaty with the
English at Troyes (May, 1420), through which Henry, by marry-
ing the French princess, should be king of France when Charles
sixth died.
Intrigues of Kings
Joan's child life was in all this mix-up. For there was the
young dauphin, son of Charles sixth, who had not inherited much
strength of character from either his unsound father or his Eng-
lish inclined mother, who, except for this treaty, was next in line
to the throne. To make things still more interesting, two years
after the Treaty Henry the fifth died, leaving an infant son to
inherit both thrones. Two months later of the same year (1422)
Charles sixth died also. And there was the nineteen-year-old
dauphin. France had two kings ! Which one would beat the
other to the actual crowning ?
Joan was only ten now. But it was not the sugar-fed, ir-
responsible ten of "infantile America." It was the hard-lived,
working ten of the peasantry. France was in a turmoil, having
no stable government to combat the general system of brigandage
that was going on everywhere. The people needed a king badly,
but he should not be an interloper ! France was in bondage. The
peasantry, always the chief sufferer, was greatly excited.
The Life of Joan of Arc
It had been prophesied that a maid should deliver France from
bondage. At thirteen, beneath the "enchanted tree" Joan listened
to voices that told her she was that maid — the voices of St. Michael,
St. Catherine and St. Margaret; and from them she learned
FIFTH CENTENARY OF JOAN OF ARC 581
where to find the sword of Charles Martel, which they bade her
carry.
Little Joan wanted a real king and a reliable government.
She was too young to realize that the aimless dauphin would
never form a reliable court, neither did the, to her, unjust agree-
ment of Troyes mean anything but unspeakably disgraceful union.
France to be a slave ! Forever ! And to be finally merged into
England ! Never ! So from ten to seventeen (that mystic number
seven!), her heart was a seething 'they shall not pass.' And as
those years went by and the English, already in possession of the
North, were moving on to Orleans, the key to the South, her
voices became more insistent and she with them.
It was now the year 1429. Joan, after many strivings, had
at last succeeded in gaining the attention of the dauphin. He gave
her an army of five thousand men. She was now the Maid.
April 29 she entered Orleans. In May she raised the siege. The
dauphin was crowned !
Betrayal of the Heroine
Incensed at the broken pledge of Troyes, Burgundy re-
doubled his efforts to capture Joan. The young girl wished still
to obey her voices ; and they were telling her that, now her mission
was accomplished, she must return to her home in Domremy.
But she was too loyal to her new-made king, who was to be such
a traitor to her. Yielding to his importunity she stayed with the
army. To her sorrow !
When she attempted the capture of Paris, the king deserted
her, disbanding his army. Jealousy, too, was putting its green
finger into the fire. Able officers who had doubtless supervised
her, did not like all the laurels of victory to be handed to a girl.
Perhaps this is partly the reason that in fighting against Burgundy
at Compiegne she found herself separated from all but her own
brothers, who manfully fought to protect her ; but she was pulled
from her horse by a Burgundian and taken prisoner. She was
sold to the English by the Duke of Burgundy and John of Luxem-
burg for thirty-two hundred dollars.
Baseness of Two Nations
The English, through the persistent evil machinations of an un-
speakably base priest, a Burgundian sympathizer, Pierre Cauchon,
who had been ejected from his own see but who seems to have
had enough influence with the University of Paris and the Holy
Inquisition to bend them to his wishes, returned her to the French
Inquisition for trial. And there she met no mercy. Cauchon,
the dragon, was her accuser, he was her condemner. By keeping
France a nation she had thwarted his ambitions to an arch-
bishopric under Angio-Burgundian power. Besides, she had
received revelation direct to herself rather than through the
582 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
church. He had. her pat on that. Joan, her faithful heart stung
at the charge of heresy, and her flesh, that had borne the wounds
of war so bravely, shrinking from a hideous death by burning,
piteously pleaded for the intercession of the supreme earthly
judge, the pope. Coldly told that the pope was too far away,
she was excommunicated; then, in Rouen, May 30, 1431, burned
at the stake as a heretic.
The Nobility of Her Soul
So this sweet, pure, loving, tender, girl-warrior, who wept at
the tragedy of killing, who dismounted from her horse to minister
to a hurt enemy as carefully as she would tend her own, must know
the agony of biting flames that sear her lithe, live body ; and learn
the bitter lesson of the lonely great when, deserted by church
and state, he falls back in despair upon his own "unconquerable
soul" and that hope which is the immortal part of us — the justice
of the coming generation and, beyond, "what gods may be !"
In her case both are working. France today, by placing
tablets at the various points of her achievements, is celebrating
the wonderful year of 1429. And on February 23, the date on
which she had set out to offer her sword to France, the first
memorial stone was laid, while bonfires blazed, whistles blew and
church bells rang! A later pope withdrew the charge of heresy
against her. In 1894 Leo thirteenth declared her venerable. She
was canonized May 13, 1920.
As for Cauchon, he was excommunicated after his death by
Pope Calixtus IV, "and his body exhumed and thrown into the
common sewer."
Vive Jeanne d' Arc!
It is pleasing to note how many English writers are willing
to pay high tributes to Joan. As an instance of this we quote
from "Jeanne D' Arc," by Alfred Austin, the present Poet
Laureate of England :
"You with your unarmed innocency scaled
The walls of war, and, where man's might had failed,
Crowning, enthroned the Annointed of the Lord.
And should France yet again be called to* scare
The stranger from her gates, and hurl back thence
Feet that would violate her frontiers fair,
Not meretricious syncophants of sense,
But the pure heart and patriotic prayer,
Once more would prove her rescue, and defense."
From The Independent, May 5, 1904.
Young Death
By Blanche Kendall McKey
When roses nod I see your waiting face,
Dawn-tinted, smile above the hedgerow fair ;
I close my eyes and feel that you are there —
And then —
All the beauty of the Junetide,
Your smile rare,
I feel again!
Again!
When stately lilies lift their frail cups pale,
I see the pallor of your rounded cheek ;
I close my eyes and see you, lily-fair,
And cannot speak;
And then —
All the beauty and the glory that hearts seek
I feel again —
The. rise and fall of hushing prayer,
The heavy, flower-laden air —
/ breathe "Amen"
Again !
When winter stars look down on snow-wrapped fields,
I think of tender hopes that young hearts fed —
So flaming bright they quicken what seems dead;
And then —
In spite of lilies' breath I know you are not dead!
You live, I live, and No Man's Land between
Through tears springs green;
There is but one word that my heart repeats
And sings again :
"When?"
Roses! Lilies! Starlight!
"When?"
Joan of Arc as Portrayed in Literature
By Blanche Kendall McKey
Even the casual reader of history will not fail to note that
out of the great mass of people who dominate the ever-changing
scenes which constitute "the past," a few dramatic, appealing
figures stand forth boldly, challenging the interest and curiosity of
each succeeding generation. Just such a vivid figure is Joan of
Arc.
An Enigma of the Ages
For over five hundred years the Maid of Orleans has been
the subject of controversy among men. Before the short eighteen
years which she lived had gone by, men of the soil of France and
of England, military leaders, theologians, and kings, had con-
tended hotly as to whether she was a saint or a witch, and the
differences of opinion did not die out with her death fagots.
But she not only puzzled her contemporaries, she has likewise
baffled succeeding generations. Religionists and scientists have
sought to explain her in terms of doctrine and science, but they
have not succeeded very well. She remains forever an enigma
of the Middle Ages.
An Inspiration to Writers
The study of Joan of Arc as reflected in literature is fascinat-
ing. Since 1429 she has been a lamp of inspiration to creative
writers. Much that has been penned about her has been lost, but
an abundance of material has been preserved and is constantly
being augmented. In an incomplete bibliography brought down
to 1894, there are found 667 works that deal with her life in
general. There are 849 monographs that deal with different phases
of her life. There are 160 dramas in verse and 21 operas — 2,286
works in all. The compiler, Pierre Lanery d' Arc, says that it
would have been easy to pass the 3,000 mark had certain other
publications been taken into account. All these contributions
antedate 1894. Since that time hundreds have been added.
Contradictory Portrayals of Her
In acquainting oneself with the abundance of material inspired
by the Maid of France, one is first of all impressed with the great
amount of reiteration to be found in it. From one angle of ap-
proach or another, similar ideas are constantly occurring. There
appear to be but a limited number of possible explanations of
Joan in literature. She is portrayed as a heretic and a witch ; as
a saintly maid ; as a courageous, love-craving woman ; as a subject
JOAN OF ARC IN LITERATURE 585
of ridicule and a tool of the clergy; as a shrewd, natural girl.
By selecting outstanding examples to be found in each of these
classifications one can gain a fairly clear idea of Joan as creative
writers conceive her. Let us choose Shakespeare's La Pucelle in
"Henry VI," Mark Twain's Maid in "The Recollections of Joan
of Arc," iSchiller's "Die Jungfrau," Voltaire's "La Pucelle," and
France's "Vie de Jeanne d' Arc," ending with Bernard Shaw's
"Saint Joan."
On May 30, 143 1 , when Joan of Arc climbed the high scaffold
to her death, she had been found guilty, among other things, of
being a heretic and a witch. This is the picture we get of her a
century and a half later in the first part of Shakespeare's "Henry
VI." But the portrayal is full of inconsistencies.
Pictures of a Fallen Angel
In the beginning of the play she is drawn with a certain
amount of sympathy. King Charles addresses her as "Bright star
of Venus, fallen down on earth." She is a heroic Amazon : "Fight
till the last gasp ; I will be your guard," she cries. Later one is
uncertain as to her character. In the end she becomes a wicked,
impure woman, who needlessly repudiates her own father ; a
falsifier in league with the devil, who aids her in her fight against
the righteous cause of England. While the Pucelle of "Henry
VI," taken as a whole, is utterly untrue to history, in certain
respects she suggests the real Joan of Arc. She is like her in
personal appearance, in her warlike attitude, in her patriotism,
and in her power to influence people.
Pictures of a Saint
Among the many contributions .that depict Joan as a saintly
Maid, Mark Twain's "Recollections of Joan of Arc" stands out
conspicuously. The German critic Viereck, in 1925 said that
Twain's study of the Maid is probably America's greatest offering
on the subject. Mr. Clemens gives the eighteen years of Joan's
life in detail, holding close to historic facts, especially in the part
dealing with her trial and martyrdom. His Maid is appealing,
pathetic, wonder-inspiring ; she actually sees saints and hears their
voices. Spiritually is her fundamental characteristic. "Joan's
eyes were deep and rich and wonderful beyond anything merely
earthly." In Twain's creation the reader perceives a living, ap-
pealing personality, but one removed from the realism of life.
She never appears without her halo. This author said of the
Maid that she was "easily and by far the most extraordinary
person the human race has ever produced."
The Maiden Romantic
Somewhat closely related to the saintly Maid is the romantic
Joan; and of this type Friedrich von Schiller's "Die Jungfrau"
586 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
is an outstanding example. His contribution is one of the noblest
delineations we have of the Maid of Orleans. However, it is
radically untrue to history.
Die Jungfrau is a girl of sixteen, beautifully moulded, with
chijd-slike features. Her body being somewhat delicate, her
strength comes from on high. Animated with divine spirit, she is
poetical in her actions and speech. Making a covenant with God,
she is led to success so long as she subdues all traces of earthly
passion. Unfortunately she falls in love with an English general,
Lional, and victory deserts her. Later she overcomes desire,
purifies her spirit, and saves her king, dying bravely on the field
of victorious battle. According to Viereck, Schiller saw in the
fate of Joan the struggle of fearless humanity against overwhelm-
ing odds.
The Ridicule by Cynics
Joan as a subject of ridicule and tool of the clergy is treated
by two great French writers, Voltaire and Anatole France. Vol-
taire's "La Pucelle,, is a burlesque poem in twenty-two cantos,
in which the Maid figures in a variety of adventures that bear
witness to her imaginary lack of chastity. Charles VII, Agnes
Sorel, Dunois, and other historical characters with Joan make up
the action. The poem is comparable to "Don Juan" rather than
to any other work. Although the Maid is pictured sordidly,
Voltaire aims his satire, not at her, but at society. The poem
extends through two volumes.
In regard to the Maid, Anatole France expresses himself thus :
"I believe there is nothing in the life of Jeanne d' Arc which will
not yield, at the last analysis, to a rational interpretation." From
this realistic viewpoint, M. France wrote his "Vive de Jeanne
d' Arc," explaining her voices and visions as hallucinations, her
actions as the result of the instigation of Catholic priests. He
sees Joan as an ordinary shepherdess subject to hysteria. She is
over-good, "saintly"; medieval "saintly." One might suggest,
stupidly "saintly." The clergy take advantage of her abnormal
state of mind and make her a medieval prophetess. M. France
does not give the Maid much credit for what she actually achieved,
claiming that it was the Archbishop of Rheims who brought about
the coronation. This skeptical conception of the Maid met with
immediate and violent opposition from layman, clergy, and his-
torian. Among these are Delteil, Monahan, F. C. Lowell, Andrew
Lang, and many lesser writers.
"A Shrewd, Natural Girl"
Among the many writers who today conceive Joan of Arc
as a shrewd, natural girl, Bernard Shaw stands out noticeably.
His realistic Maid, robbed of actual Saints and audible Voices,
has not always been received kindly, some people being loath to
JOAN OF ARC IN LITERATURE 587
accept her visitations as manifestations of intuitions formed within
the secret depths of the soul. Shaw feels that the operations of
divine grace do not interrupt the course of nature, and that if we
understood all her laws there would be nothing unnatural, not
even the appearance of saints. Like Voltaire's, Shaw's satire is
not aimed at Joan, but at society.
Although literature reveals cases of apparently satisfactory
individual explanations of the Maid of France, there is little
agreement in the theories about her. No matter how individuals
may feel, the world as a whole will doubtless always regard the
Maid as an enigma, for her life is too far removed to admit of
much new evidence. From the facts which history discloses,
almost any theory may be reasonably proved, but up to the present
time literature offers for this girl's baffling life no explanation
that has been generally accepted.
Public Opinion Divided
Nor has any one writer's conception of the Maid as an
individual been accredited by the reading public as a whole. The
so-called Shakespearean portrait of Joan as a heretic and a
witch passed out with the national prejudice that inspired it. To-
day, Shakespeare's Pucelle is looked upon with interest as a
study, but not as a piece of clever characterization or as a reflection
of the historic Maid. Joan's voices are doubtless the chief prob-
lem which her life presents, and Shakespeare disposes of them by
depicting her as a conjurer in league with the devil, receiving her
inspiration from evil spirits.
The Realistic Dreamer
While the saintly conception of Joan of Arc in literature is
satisfactory to some, to others it is inadequate. Winters who
conceive Joan as saintly reflect her fundamental quality of spir-
ituality to excess while they slight her practicality. History shows
that Joan of Arc was more than a visionary, for she brought her
dreams to fulfilment. She gave precise directions in regard to
her sword and her banner. At her request the former was brought
from St. Catherine's church at Fierbois; the latter she designed
herself. The field of the banner was sown with the lilies of
France, the country she was to save. In the midst of the lilies God,
who had sent her, was painted, holding the world and sitting
upon clouds. The motto was "Jesus Maria," her watchword.
As the banner materialized out of her dreams and her purpose,
so did the attack on Orleans, where, lance in hand, she led a
charge upon the English.
The Goal of Her Life
From the beginning her goal was the crowning of the dauphin
at Rheims. During this ceremony she was ever near the king,
588 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
holding her standard in her hand. The great audience was deeply
stirred. Paine comments : "The peasant girl had made good
her promise. Unknown in January, in July she had crowned a
king. They were witnessing an event without counterpart in
human history."
As an award for her services, Joan asked that the people of
Domremy and Cruex be forever exempt from taxation. This
was a most practical and impartial way of relieving her heavily
burdened people. In her replies to her tormentors during her
trial, the Maid's good sense and clear insight were demonstrated.
Many readers feels that the writers who depict Joan of Arc as
merely a saintly Maid rob her of much of her charm.
Was it "the Will of God?"
However, the saintly Maid of literature reflects faithfully
her prototype in regard to visions and voices. According to
Joan's testimony, her Saints and their Voices were as real as any
experience in her life. A large class of writers accept the Maid
at her word in this respect, feeling that she was super-naturally
inspired. Bangs says : "It was the will of God that France should
live." Wheaton claims that "God intended France to be, not a
vassal, but a country complete in herself, and he chose a selfless
instrument for the most difficult part in the accomplishment of
his design." The great French historian, Quicherat, a free
thinker wholly devoid of clerical influences, admits Joan's voices,
saying that the evidence for them is as good as for any fact in
her history. There is a class of writers who portray a saintly
girl and yet who, like John Lord, neither affirm nor deny divine
inspiration. These view her as a religious phenomenon and offer
no explanation.
Her Soul's Real Love
As a subject for romance Joan of Arc has been treated in
many varying lights, sometimes without regard to historical facts,
as in the case of Schiller's "Die Jungfrau." Although the creative
Joan of Arc is so often treated romantically, the real Joan was
not concerned with love. She was child-like in this respect, and
had never experienced a conflict between spirit and flesh caused
by earthly passion. She was not torn 'by desire, as Schiller pictures
her. During her long imprisonment and in her martyrdom she
was not sustained by the love of the handsome Duke d' Alencon,
as Percy Mackaye depicts. Nor was she attracted to the king,
as Delteil and other writers conceive her to have been. The real
Joan's love for her king was love of her country, of which he
was the symbol. Joan was the spirit of medieval chivalry. She
was not sexless; she spoke of marriage and of sons as a future
JOAN OF ARC IN LITERATURE 589
possibility, but her concern up to the time of her capture was
the saving of France.
As a rule the romantic Joan in literature, like the saintly one,
is depicted as a visionary, actually seeing personages and hearing
supernatural voices.
Men's Censure and Their Praise
The disparaging portraitures of Joan of Arc drawn by the two
great French writers, Voltaire and Anatole France, have had little
influence upon the world's conception of the Maid. The humor
of Voltaire's travesty depends upon the reader's acceptance of his
Maid as a contradiction of what she really was. His creation
is not to be taken seriously. France's skeptical conception, in
spite of his skill in the presentation of it, has been accepted by
very few people ; for history does not bear out France's treatment.
As an historical character she is real, not a legend. She is neither
a goody-goody nor a victim of hysteria.-
Among the writers who protested strongly against Anatole
France's "Vie de Jeanne d' Arc," Andrew Lang stands out con-
spicuously. His "Maid of France" was written in repudiation of
the Frenchman's explanation. Lang feels that Joan was possessed
of a genius that should be the wonder of the world, and that
her voices would have availed little in saving France but for her
exceptional endowments. Wheaton, Ince, Delteil, and many
others entertain a similar opinion.
To one who accepts France's premise, his explanation of the
failure of the voices is very plausible. He holds that inasmuch
as they told her what to do and say, the priests were Joan's real
inspiration. During her long imprisonment, shut away from their
promptings and admonitions, she made statements which grew
into false predictions.
A "Modernistic" View
Modernism throws a new light upon Joan of Arc, revealing
her as a shrewd, natural girl. Saint-Beuve, Joseph Delteil, Michael
Monahan, Bernard Shaw, and others all present this interpreta-
tion of Joan, although differing widely in their explanations and
conceptions of her character. The modern Joan is real. She is
endowed with keen insight, extreme practicality, and good sense.
She is possessed of the strength of character necessary to make
hdr dreams come true. She is a great warrior and as such
reflects well the historic Maid.
But the modern Joan, to an extent at least, has lost much
that is spiritual and supernatural in her. Delteil thinks the Maid
drew her inspiration from Nature, suggesting slightly F. M.
Myers' explanation of Joan in his hypothesis of the Subliminal
Self. Both of these treatments suggest Plato's theory of Ideas.
Shaw thinks Joan's voices and visions were the result of pure
590 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
imagination; Sainte-Beuve believes that they were hallucinations
caused by the return of projected thought. Many modern Spir-
itualists, among them Conan Doyle and Leon Denis, hold that
the visions and voices of Joan of Arc can be explained only
through the actual appearance of spirits. Indeed, M;. Denis pro-
motes the theory that Joan was a great medium.
The More Striking P&rtrayals
Bernard Shaw's treatment of Joan in the Epilogue to his play
is an excellent example of a certain light in which the Maid has
been admirably portrayed by many writers. He shows her here
as tradition has made her, as the poets sing of her: the Joan
who has grown into an ideal, into a symbol of the whispering of
God (be he Nature, or Subliminal Self, or an impersonal divine
Power, or a Deified Man), into the typification of national patriot-
ism. This tendency in the treatment of Joan of Arc is evident in
a great deal that has been written about her.
After five hundred years of controversy and speculation, the
riddle of Joan of Arc's inspiration remains unsolved. However,
although disputes have arisen over inferences drawn from facts,
the facts themselves concerning her life are indisputable. It was
Sainte-Beuve who said: "The miracle of this girl's life is best
honored by the simple truth." Indeed, Joan appears to be an
exemplification of the adage, "Truth is stranger than fiction;"
for although writers have enriched literature because of her, they
have not glorified her life as history discloses it. The more one
studies her brief and tragic career, the stronger grows one's
conviction that the literary representations do not eclipse the real
Maid of Orleans. Unquestionably, literature has enhanced the
theme of Joan of Arc. ; but the girl herself, in her simplicity, her
spirituality, her courage and lack of self interest, as her words
and deeds in history depict her, is greater than the pictures which
creative writers give us of her.
The Mystery Unsolved
The historic Joan is not a heretic and a witch. She is not a
subject for ridicule, a tool of the clergy, or a romantic love-
craving woman. She is neither a saintly Maid nor a shrewd,
natural girl. She is such a mysterious blending of the saintly and
the natural as no creative artist as yet has shown. She may never
inspire greater literature than she has already inspired, but as
yet the historical Joan of Arc in her fullness of character has not
been reflected in any one literary creation.
JOAN OF ARC
Bronze Equestrian, by Paul Dubois.
gsiira^i,a^hm7wwriif^frY^^
JOAN OF ARC
By Andrew Lang
(Reprinted, with permission, from The Living Age,
May 31, 1902)
H,
er eyes were of the ocean gray,
And dark as Hyacinths her hair,
No moonlight blossoms of the May
With her mailed bosom might compare.
There are no maidens anywhere,
There have not been, there shall not be,
So brave, so gentle, frank and fair
As she!
The honor of a loyal boy
The prowess of a paladin,
The maiden-mirth, the soul of joy,
Abode her happy heart within.
From doubt, from fear, from shame, from sin,
As God's own angels was she free,
Old worlds shall end and new begin
To be.
Ere any come like her who fought
For France, for freedom, for the King,
Who counsel of redemption brought
Whence even the warrior-angel's wing
Might weary sore in voyaging;
Who heard the Voices cry, rrBe free!"
Such flower no later human spring
Shall see!
Saints Catherine, Michael, Margaret,
Who sowed the seed that Thou must reap,
If eyes of Angels must be wet,
If Saints in Heaven have leave to weep,
In Paradise, a pain they keep,
Maiden! an awful memory,
A sorrow that can never sleep
For Thee!
^&!g^^t^^l^t^l^tffi!!^^^
JOAN OF ARC
After the Victory, by Allouard
j Joan's Vision
j By Clinton Dangerfield
i (Reprinted, with permission, from Munsey's Magazine,
| January, 1903)
I
1 She did not wait for touch of skillful hands
j On harps athrill — she did not wait a hall j
I Rich carpeted, with mullioned windows set
i
j Through which the light should elo- !
I quently fall. j
She saw her vision in the homely fields —
j The trodden fields that all too well she i
I I
I knew. j
j You of environment contemptuous grown, \
j Lies there no lesson in this thing for you? f
I , I
j — Copyright by The Frank A.
! Munsey Company, 1903.
! J
)*ll^-»ll ||^^||.^—||^— |; II II II II ll^^ll^— »H— »ll ll^^ll i| || II— »|| ll«— .11 ii l|iif
JOAN OF ARC
In the Luxembourg, Paris, by Henri Chapu.
THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Motto' — Charity Never Faileth
THE GENERAL BOARD
MRS. LOUISE YATES ROBISON - President
MRS. AMY BROWN LYMAN ^ First Counselor
MRS. JULIA ALLEMAN CHILD Second Counselor
MRS JULIA A. F. LUND .... General Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Emma A. Empey Mrs. Lotta Paul Baxter Mrs. Nettie D. Bradford
Mrs. Jeanette A. Hyde Mrs. Cora L. Bennion Mm Elise B. Alder
Miss Sarah M. McLelland Mrs. Amy Whipple Evans Mrs. Inez K. Allen
Mrs. Annie Wells Cannon Mrs. Ethel Reynolds Smith Mrs. Ida P. Beal
Mrs. Jennie B. Knight Mrs. Rosannah C. Irvine Mrs. Kate M. Barker
Mrs. Lalene H. Hart Miss Alice Louise Reynolds Mrs. Marcia K. Howells
Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edwards, Music Director
Miss Edna Coray, Organist
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Editor Alice Louise Reynolds
Manager Louise Y. Robison
Assistant Manager Amy Brown Lyman
Room 20, Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Magazine entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
Vol, XVI NOVEMBER, 1929 . No. 11
EDITORIAL
One of the Immortals
Since Joan of Arc, the French Jeanne d' Arc, or Maid jof
Orleans, was martyred by the people whom she had liberated and
served, five centuries have passed. In the trial nobody came to her
rescue, not even the French king, whom she had caused to be
crowned, nor the people whom she had freed from the English
yoke. Today, barring the Christ, of course, who was of divine
origin, she is to some people the most extraordinary person that
this world has ever seen. Her immortality seems secure. If mon-
uments in marble and bronze, if paintings on canvas and represen-
tations in beautiful colored glass can make one live forever in hu-
man thought, then Joan will never die. If a deep-seated admiration
and an interest that is far-reaching in all of its ramifications are
signs of lasting immortality, then is Joan of the immortals.
By what law of contrast comes it that the girl whose existence
her persecutors strove to blot out by fire, should for centuries stand
as guard of the cathedral at Rheims, the place where the unfor-
tunate Charles was made king? Shrapnel from big German guns
demolished the left tower of the cathedral, while it did little or
no damage to the equestrian statue of Joan. Standing there, in
armor, she appears to be defiantly guarding this sacred shrine.
In Bernard Shaw's drama, St. Joan, the Maid is shown some
EDITORIAL 597
of the monuments that have been erected in her honor, among
others the statue before the cathedral at Rheims. When she sees
it she exclaims, "Is that funny little thing me?" And Charles
replies, "It must be you ; that is Rheims Cathedral, where you had
me crowned." Then Joan cries, "Who has broken my sword? My
sword was never broken. It is the sword of France." Another
says, "Never mind swords; swords can be mended. Your soul
is unbroken, and you are the soul of France."
In this last expression Shaw has reached the pinnacle of
wisdom and insight. This girl, in the history of the world the
youngest person who ever led a national army, is in a very real
sense the soul of France. There are two persons who, dead, domi-
nate France more completely than do any who are living. These
two are Napoleon the Great, who, despite his faults, cast over the
country a glamor that the French will never forget ; and the youth-
ful girl Jeanne d' Arc, who in a sense gave to France both
national and spiritual life.
Joan of Arc
That a girl of seventeen should be able to grip the imagination
of twentieth century civilization, is one of the amazing facts of
history ; yet this is true of Joan of Arc.
Albert Bigelow Paine, in the Mentor of March, 1926, wrote :
"After five centuries Joan of Arc remains the most fascinating
figure of history. More than ever she stands revealed as the
marvel of all times, the little peasant girl who at seventeen led an
army, and in a few brief months threw back an entrenched enemy,
led a timid prince to his coronation, and made conquest of a war-
weary and all but vanquished people."
An article in the Bookman of March, 1926, by Joseph Collins,
says : "The ashes of Joan of Arc were thrown into the Seine five
hundred years ago. Simultaneously her spirit entered the bodies
of men. It has softened their hearts and inspired and elevated
their minds. It has convinced them of their close kinship to God.
Next to Paul she is today the most illustrious personage of Chris-
tendom."
Again, Mr. Collins has remarked concerning her: "Wlhen
a writer, novelist, poet, biographer, playwright, or historian has
exhausted his material he turns to Joan of Arc." So, too, Mr.
Collins says: "Now she," referring to Joan, "is the mother of
her country, as George Washington is the father of his."
Each year on May 8, a national fete is held in Orleans. This
year, 1929, because it marked the fifth centenary, a special pro-
gram was prepared. May 8 was the date on which Joan first
brought food to the beleaguered city of Orleans. Ten days after,
the English surrendered to the French. From April 29 until May
8, a celebration was held each day, presenting, say the papers,
"on an unprecedented scale the epic of its great heroine, St. Joan
598 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
of Arc." At noon on May 7, from the top of the museum tower,
a fanfare of artillery announced with great ceremony the un-
folding of Joan's standard.
Another feature of the celebration was the placing of a
memorial stone in every part of the country that Joan visited.
"At crossroads, on the parapets of bridges and elsewhere, the
stones form a continuous line marking Joan's travels from Dom-
remy by way of Poitiers, Tours, Orleans, Troyes, Soissons,
Rheims, Epernay, Laon, Compiegne, Beauvais, and Chantilly,
many of them since 1918 historic points in the fighting history
of the United States army.
"Paris itself received two of the stones — one at Porte Saint
Honore and the other at Port Saint Denis. The design of the
stones was determined by competition. The first memorial was
set up at Vaucouleurs.
Myron T. Herrick's introduction to "We," written by Charles
A. Lindbergh, says, "When Joan of Arc crowned her king at
Rheims she became immortal." There seems to be abundant
material to justify the statement of our French ambassador, who
so recently represented the United States in the country of Joan's
birth and unprecedented triumph.
The Maid of France in Painting and Sculpture
Except the Virgin Mary it would appear that no other woman
has inspired so much art as has Joan of Arc. Joseph Collins says :
"She is the inexhaustible material for sculptor or for painter."
In the Pantheon at Paris, the building in which France honors
her great dead, something after the manner the English honor
their dead in Westminster Abbey, there is a group of magnificent
mural paintings in which the life of Joan is depicted. It begins
with a portrayal of the simple life she lived in Domremy and
ends with her death amid flames.
At Chartres Cathedral, one of the most beautiful cathedrals
in France, the story of her life is told in colored glass windows
of rare beauty. In the chateau at Chantilly, the castle held four
days by the Germans in the late war, there is a white marble
statue of her kneeling, praying — one of the rarest pieces of sculp-
ture in all France.
On the streets of the cities of Paris and Orleans and many
other French cities there are statues of her. A gilded, equestrian
statue of Joan in military attire with her sword at her side, stands
directly in front of the cathedral at Rheims. A beautiful, white
marble statue of Joan the Saint, adorns the Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Paris. She is one of the few women to whom a monument
has been erected in America; a statue of her is found in the
city of New York.
Music — Its Message
By Ida Peterson Beal
"Music is very much like individuals; some pieces are ac-
quaintances, some are friends — depending on their qualities. So-
called 'popular music' resembles acquaintances — those who come
casually into our lives, who attract us for the moment, but who,
having no power of sustained interest, pass out of our ken to
make way for others like them. They leave no marked impress
upon us, nor do they represent character, which is the cross-sec-
tion running through every conceivable relation. Musical master-
pieces, on the other hand, are friends. As is so often true with
human beings, their great and enduring qualities, their beauty of
character, are not at once apparent, but grow on us with each new
hearing until they become a very part of our lives."
It can be said with confidence and without a thought of ex-
aggeration that music should be considered a necessity in the lives
of our people today. Its importance is so thoroughly recognized
that it is not looked upon as a luxury but as a necessity. It is
one of the chief agencies that afford us an understanding and an
enjoyment of the beauties around us. Being one of the elevating
and inspirational gifts of God to His children, it spurs us on to
deeds that are higher and nobler, while it aids in the building of
a real character.
In our material, bustling age we need much beauty to add
balance to our lives. To catch the message of music will make us
sensitive to loveliness in sight and sound. Our leisure time can
become a great opportunity with which to gain enough musical
inspiration to become missionaries for music in our homes, in our
churches, and in our secular institutions thus bringing color and
joy to thousands.
Music is a universal language, the language of the emotions ;
and the best music is often the simplest, lying easily within the
child's comprehension. Every child should grow up in a home
wherein music is played. A musical home will be a blessed mem-
ory to the child, whose soul will be sweetened thereby.
From the very beginning of our growth in Utah the develop-
ment and encouragement of music has been demonstrated. Our
leaders recognized its limitless benefits in the general welfare of
the people. Community singing has always been a great stimu-
lant to tired, weary men and women, and was a real tonic to the
pioneers as they traveled westward. Music should be urged as a
common-sense, wholesome necessity. We must bring our people
in large numbers to a real understanding of good music, and a
desire to have part in that music. The intelligent singing of good
600 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
songs is for every one a profitable investment in culture; for it
establishes an interest in and an appreciation of this art.
1 'Encourage song as the door through which all may normally
enter into musical enjoyment," says one writer; "and listening as
the key to an understanding appreciation of music."
An error difficult to overcome is the idea that to sing good
music cultivated voices are demanded. Such is not altogether
the case. As a matter of fact a chorus of untrained singers may
be taught to produce an amazingly good tone. The bond that
helps produce this result is a love for good music. Whenever
large numbers of people take part, music offers a strong stimulus
to community feeling.
In Germany they do not think that when a man has left school
his education is finished. Their experience has taught them that
attendance at the theatre, the opera, and the symphony concerts
constitutes a life-long source of aesthetic and moral education.
Thus music enters into the lives of all the citizens. The children,
brought up in a musical atmosphere, absorb all that is rich and
fine, and this culture appears again in a discriminating appreciation
of what is good in music.
Mechanical devices such as the victrola, the ampico piano, and,
last but not least, the radio, are entering into the musical educa-
tion of the people. Walter Damrosch is taking up educational
work through the microphone. It is his great love for good music
that stimulates him in this new venture. "Through radio," he
says, "science reaches out her powerful arms to carry music to
millions of people to whom the names of great musicians were
formerly little known. The radio audience has shown through its
criticism that it knows the difference between a great artist and a
mediocre one.
"I confidently hope that our radio concerts will be the means
of laying the foundation of a nation-wide love of good music
among the youth of America. Given the means of reaching peo-
ple, as we can through the radio, it is possible to educate them
musically without limitations. It is just as easy to accustom them
to good music as to bad. The main thing is to catch our young
people early enough and to lead them gently into the magic land
of music — in a way which will not bore them, but rather will stimu-
late their sensibilities and awaken their spiritual appetites — a way
that will make them want to know more of this wonderful art."
It has been said that "we march forward on the feet of little
children." If this is true, and if we wish to become a musical
people with an intelligent discrimination of good music and a
judgment sharpened and developed by the richness of artistic of-
ferings, we must begin early an intelligent study of music, instill
into the minds of the young the love of good music for its own
MUSICS-ITS MESSAGE 601
sake. Later, these young men and women who are interested in
singing as well as in instrumental music, will want to express
themselves musically, and their accomplishments in music will be-
come a real asset to their community.
In his preface to the hymn book of 1530, Luther declares
music to be "the beautiful and heavenly gift of God. Next to
theology, with my small ability to judge, I would set nothing
higher."
Gratitude
/ thank Thee, Lord, for faith: —
That simple faith which bids me sow the field,
Not doubting that the harvest time will bring
A bounteous yield.
And for that faith which scaffolds oyet the mire
Of human wrongs, to form a generous span
Of confidence and trust in erring -man.
For that sweet faith, from childhood's lips reclaimed,
Which builds sa rainbow pathway down the years,
And prompts me in the solitary hour
To share with Thee my hopes, hny needs, my fears.
I thank Thee, Lord, for faith.
— Alberta H. Christensen.
A Kind Heart
By Mrs. T. W. Stevenson
It was the morning before Thanksgiving. A biting cold wind
whistled around the point of the mountain. It swept powdered
snow down the gully, and shook the bare trees along the Jordan
river bank.
A child walking on the frozen road struggled to draw the
thin worn coat more closely to cover hands blue with cold.
A truck was approaching, spluttering and back-firing.
"Even the truck is cold," thought the child, as he stepped
aside and held up a hand. "Give me a ride, Mister," he shouted,
as loud as his quivering chin would permit.
The pleasant-faced driver thought, "Well this is once I'll
break my rule of never picking up a youngster." Putting on
the brake he shouted, "Where are you going this cold morning?"
"To the city," answered the child.
"To the city!" cried the man. "Why you'd never get there
unless the wind blew you there. Climb up here beside me, I'll
take you." And he reached down a hand to help the trembling
child.
"Now," said the man, as he put a corner of the blanket
around the boy, "What is your name ?"
"Tom — just Tom," he answered hastily.
"Tom," said the man softly, more to himself than the child,
"I wish it hadn't been that."
"Why there are lots of Toms," said the child.
"Yes, I know," he said. "I had a little Tom' of my own last
Thanksgiving. I — I don't like to see anyone named 'Tom' in
trouble."
"I ain't cryin' 'cause I'm in trouble," said the child. "The
cold just makes me seem like I'm cryin'. Anyway, Uncle Chuck
said I ought to have trouble, I've made him so much."
"Ought to Jiave trouble, hey!" said the man, stopping the
engine and drawing a thermos bottle from under some sacks in
the bottom of the truck. "It was so cold this morning Mother
made me bring this hot cocoa that we had left from breakfast.
It hasn't been off the stove fifteen minutes," he said as he filled
the bottle cap and gave to the child to drink. "Maybe that will
warm you a little."
"That's fine," said Tom when he had swallowed the last
drop. He did not say, "I have tasted nothing before, today."
Why should he, when there had been so many days like this in
his short life?
The man replaced the bottle, pulled the blanket up even with
Tom's chin, and started the engine.
A KIND HEART 603
"It's mighty cold," he said, "but it's good weather for me,
I get better prices for my eggs and chickens."
"Oh, are you a chicken-man? It must be nice to have lots
of eggs and chickens. My Uncle hates rich people. Poor folks
can't have high-priced things. Cold weather is hard for them to
live through," said Tom thoughtfully.
"You must have come from one of the farms around here;
didn't you raise any chickens?" asked the man, looking down
at the thin face.
"I lived with my Uncle on a dry farm across the river. Seems
like the farm was no good, and he couldn't take care of chickens,
he said, after his sister ran off and left me on his hands."
"What's your name — your last name, I mean?"
"On the slip of paper she pinned on my dress she said, 'You
can call him Tom Daft. If he's daft enough he'll stay with you
on that deadly forsaken ranch ; I won't and I'll never come back'."
"Oh, your uncle is Chuck Allen. Guess I've heard of him,"
said the man. He drove along in silence, recalling talk he had
heard through the years about the Allen family. Only yesterday
someone had said that Chuck Allen was tramping to the Coast
for the winter.
Presently he asked, "Are you going to some relatives in
the city?"
"Yes, Uncle said if he was ever gone longer than two days
for me to go to the city and find cousin Sarah."
"Have you the address?"
"No. He didn't have no address," the child said with fresh
tears streaming from his blue eyes.
As they passed the city and county building the clock re-
minded the farmer that he would be late for market. If chickens
were plentiful and buyers scarce he would not get his price. In
the rush of unloading and interesting buyers, the child slipped
away.
It was a busy day. When the chickens were all sold there
were errands to do for Mother, and the truck needed some repair
work.
It was late when he drove back to the market to get things
he had left there. The lights were on. Stores and markets shone,
as they always do the evening before the great feast. Never
were garlands more green, never were apples more red, or poultry
more plump.
Market-men were beaming as they rubbed their hands with
satisfaction as customer after customer walked away with arms
loaded with bundles. The chicken man shouted a cheerful "Good
night" as he passed along. All he wanted now was a hot supper
before he started home. He had been thinking of dollars and
cents all day, now he began thinking of home, and his wife
waiting alone in the big brick house, and his little Tom, for
604 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
whom he had taken home candy and a toy balloon last Thanks-
giving. He had forgotten the homeless child he had brought
to the city.
A heavy hand was laid on his arm. "Stand back a moment,"
whispered a voice. He looked up and saw a large policeman
watching a child at a box of apples. It was his little fellow
traveler.
"That's a sharp youngster," half laughed the officer, under
his breath. "This thing is going on here all the time. Nothing
is safe."
The little blue hand was already on an apple. It faltered
a moment, then grasped tightly, then dropped it. He hid his face
in his hands. The chicken man stepped up to him and touched
his shoulder gently. The child knew without looking up who it
was; he had but one friend.
"I couldn't do it; oh, I couldn't," he sobbed, "but I'm so
awful hungry," and he fell against the box.
The stars were shining cold and clear. The chicken man's
wife sat at the window looking out, wishing the thermometer
could go up without lowering the price of eggs and chickens.
"It's so cold for John riding from the city alone," she said to
herself. She opened the door, hoping she could hear the truck,
but the piercing wind sent her back to the blazing fire. She
thought of last year when she did not sit alone. She imagined she
heard the little voice though it had been hushed nearly a year.
How plainly she could see the smiling face, though it had been
gone so long. She hurriedly brushed away the tears as she heard
the truck. "John must not see me sad," she thought, opening
the door, and turning on the porch light.
John came in with something wrapped in the blanket ; he laid
it on the big dining room table.
"Don't say 'no,' Mother. Let us do something for our Tom's
sake this Thanksgiving."
"Are you crazy?" she said, as he uncovered the thin face.
"Wait till I tell you all." Wihen he had told his story he said
earnestly, "How could I go to church tomorrow and thank God
for his care of us if, with no little one to care for, I had left this
child alone in the city ?"
"You did right, John," she said, "you always do."
In everything I give thanks, — / Thess. 5, 18.
He is ungrateful who expresses his thanks when all witnesses
have departed. — Seneca.
Pioneers
By Lais Vernon Hales
Back-Trailers From The Middle Border — Hamlin Garland
In this the fourth and closing number of his "Trail" books,
Hamlin Garland completes his fine record of the development of the
Northwest as experienced by the members of a single representa-
tive family — his family. The three earlier books told vividly and
so honestly of pioneer days and of Mr. Garland's own youth in the
West. In BackTrailers from, the Middle Border he tells how, in
middle life, he took the back-trail to the East — the place whence
his father began his western march — and completed the circle.
Mr. Garland feels that in taking the back-trail he and his
family are as typical of our times as our fathers were of theirs.
He feels that the age of physical exploration is almost ended. "The
average man of today is too gregarious to be a pathfinder. * * ;!:
The love of crowds, the wish to live in great centers, is well-nigh
universal. If all the people who wish to live in New York were
able to follow their inclination, we should have a city of twenty
millions instead of seven."
It is this growing power — this rushing together of those who
love cities — that brought the Garlands to New York, where with
occasional interesting trips to New and Old England, they reside.
On the physical side Mr. Garland hates the city. He "loathes its
bad air, its ugly brick walls, its noise, and its ever present garbage
cans ; but he finds in it the intellectual companionships which he
craves." Deep down in his consciousness is a feeling of guilt, a
sense of disloyalty to his ancestors ; but it is not strong enough to
alter his course.
Mr. Garland feels that to outline the dangers of the city is only
to add to its charm and appeal, and accelerate this world-wide
moving, seeking, integrating. As his first three books embody the
spirit of the pioneer, so his last book shows clearly, and I believe
honestly, the centripetal forces that are drawing old and young to
the large cities of the world.
Coming from "a land where nothing is venerable," Mr. Gar-
land appreciates fully the shrines of our cities. He feels himself
at the source of legend when he visits Washington and Mount
Vernon, where America's first great president dined and slept. He
feels keenly the pathos of Martha Washington's last days in the
little attic room, whose window looks out over the grave of her
illustrious husband.
Garland laments the decay of the pioneer spirit in himself.
He no longer cares to pioneer, even in the literary sense. He has
no desire for further hardship. Yet he senses deeply the beauty
of the pioneers and pays tribute again to their solid, sterling qual-
606 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ities. Of the Middle West he says, "Confident, ready, boastful,
it is for a time only. It is tragic or it is humorous (according
to the observer) when a people so hopeful and so vigorous dies out
upon a plain as a river loses itself in the sand."
Of the pioneers, he says, "That our forefathers and our
foremothers lived in a world as real as our own and with far
greater hardships is true. It is probable that their hours of re-
joicing were fewer than ours, and yet I shall go on believing that
they enjoyed a more poetic world than that in which I live and that
they had more courage and less enfeebling doubt."
Back-Trailers from the Middle Border is rich in references to
the "intellectual companionships" which Mr. Garland values so
much and which are primarily responsible for his back-trailing. He
likens the life of an author to a man digging for gold. Once your
vein "pinches out, nothing remains but to climb from your shaft
and hunt a new lead."
One of the first men Garland met after he moved to New York
was William Dean Howells, now old and not at all well, of whom
he says, "In the tones of his voice, I detected the wistful resigna-
tion of hopeless age." Mr. Howells was troubled about the life
after death, and he and Mr. Garland exchanged views on the
thought of the old Saxon poet who figured the life of man to he
like the coming of a swallow out of the dark into the light of the
house for an instant, and then on into the night again.
John Burroughs, a revered friend and later a neighbor of Mr.
Garland's, is mentioned often, with love and understanding. Of
his "intellectual companionships" in Europe, those of Maurice
Hewlett, Joseph Conrad, A. A. Milne, and James Barrie are the
most vividly and fully given. As one reads of these delightful
companionships with the greatest men of his time, one can under-
stand how the finely grained, charming, gentle Hamlin Garland was
drawn eastward from the land of his pioneer forebears.
To those who have not experienced the hardships incident to
pioneer life, Mr. Garland's appreciation of his home "in the land
of Rip Van Winkle" will perhaps seem far-fetched. But Garland
has had much of poverty and illness in his life and he enjoys the
feeling of security which he experiences in the city. He has granted
the heroism of the pioneer, praising also their loyalty and patient
hardihood.
About this book there is the sadness of something completed.
For fifteen years Hamlin Garland has been working on this series
of books and now with Back-Trailers from the Middle Border his
story is told and his face is turned to the fireside and the past. But
what a past ! Though he has his moments of doubt and wondering
as to whether the irritations of the subway and the tumult of the
pavement are adequate returns for the loss of mountain dawns
and prairie sunsets, we feel sure that he will happily blend them
and rest content.
Notes from the Field
Boise Stake
BOISE SECOND WARD RELIEF SOCIETY
This picture was [taken at the opening social in the Second
Ward, at Boise. It tells its own story — efficient mothers and beau-
tiful children.
Nebo Stake
In the Nebo Stake Tabernacle, on Sunday, August 18, 1929,
a thoroughly successful Relief Society Class Leaders' Convention
was held, President Mary P. Harding presiding.
Professor William H. Boyle from the Brigham Young Uni-
versity gave an illuminating address on fundamentals in teaching.
Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund of the General Board of Relief Society,
followed, emphasizing the same thoughts. John F. Oleson, stake
seminary instructor, asked for the support of the Relief Society, in
the seminary work. Special instructors in the various departments
were : Theology, Professor Boyle ; Literature, Mrs. Algie BalifT of
Provo; Social Service, jMiss Hermese Peterson of the Brigham
Young University; Music, Mrs. Hannah Condie Packard of the
Brigham Young University; Visiting Teachers, Mrs. Julia A. F.
Lund.
The Class Leaders' Convention, together with the large stake
social the preceding Tuesday, made a very fine beginning for the
608 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Relief Society work of the year. In the social, all the wards took
part. Those who participated in this delightful entertainment
numbered, perhaps, more than four hundred, mostly members of
the Relief Society.
Morgan Stake
At Como Springs, August 20, 1929, was held one of the best
socials and flower shows ever put on by the Morgan stake Relief
Society. Present at the invitation of the stake president were:
Mrs. Louise Y. Robison, General President of the Relief Society,
and other members of the General Board. The program was both
musical and literary, each ward furnishing a number. In variety,
quality, and number, the flower entries would be difficult to dupli-
cate. Following the program and the display of flowers, luncheon
to 280 guests was served by the stake board.
Shelley Stake
From. Shelley stake comes a most interesting report of activi-
ties during the past year. One very fine accomplishment was real-
ized through the thrift and energy of the stake Relief Society.
More than $500.00 was earned and contributed toward the stake
tabernacle, which has just been completed.
The stake officers planned also and consummated three sum-
mer events, one for each month. That for July was a stake outing
held on the 9th in the Goshen ward — a most successful enter-
tainment, nearly every woman in the stake being present, making a
total of 575. Tihe August event was a flower show, which was
held during the quarterly conference, August 17 and 18, in the
beautiful new tabernacle. In this show, planned and carried out by
the Relief Society civic pride committee, each ward had a separate
display, all blending most harmoniously. That there had never
been so many beautiful flowers grown in the stake before, was the
opinion of all present. After the conference four large loads of
choice blossoms were taken to Idaho Falls and given, with the
compliments of the Relief Society, to the two hospitals there.
The event for September combined a district teachers' conven-
tion and a banquet. In each ward during the summer months a
Relief Society conference was held. Stake officers report all ward
workers much interested in their program, and eager for the lesson
work to begin again.
Rigby Stake
A gratifying report of Relief Society activities in the Rigby
stake, covers the fiscal year just ending. The Society was active
during the summer months, holding its annual flower show, class
leaders' convention, and two clinics. One clinic was held for the
examination of heart and lungs, another for children of pre-school
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 609
age. By enlisting the services of a public health nurse, this stake
has co-operated well with other agencies. During the late winter
months, at the home of Stake President Lettie E. Call, the stake
board entertained its ward presidents, counselors, and secretaries.
Salt Lake Stake
In order to demonstrate some outstanding piece of work that
has been accomplished, it is the desire of the Salt Lake stake Re-
lief Society board to set aside one day towards the latter part of the
year. This year the field of art work was chosen. Members were
asked to bring any piece of work — sewing, rugs, quilts, or any type
of article made during the year or at a previous time — but it must
have been a result of lessons in the art department, or must have
been accomplished through inspiration received from Relief Society
activities.
The exhibit, held in the spacious new Nineteenth Ward
Amusement Hall, was most successful. The room was redolent
with the fragrance of a flower garden placed in the center, while,
side by side around the room, were thirteen booths variously deco-
rated and filled with pieces of art work — afghans, lampshades, rugs,
quilts, flowers, painted articles, remodeled clothing, and so on. The
booths, decorated with flowers made by the women of the Relief
Societies, were gay and beautiful in their originality.
"Excellence in art," says Hilliard, "is to be attained only by
active effort, and not by passive impressions ; by the manly over-
coming of difficulties, by patient struggle against adverse circum-
stances, by the thrifty use of moderate opportunities."
If Mr. Hilliard had been in the Relief Society and had its
activity in mind, he could not have spoken more truthfully. By
earnest hard work, under many difficulties, these women produced
an especially fine exhibit. The judges declared it impossible to
select any one booth and call it the best, because all were so praise-
worthy.
Prizes were given to each ward for some distinctive display :
For the greatest display of outlined articles, for the best general
display, for the best quilt and handwork, and for the most artistic
booth, also for the one with the greatest number of useful articles,
and for the best exhibit of remodeled clothing.
Refreshments were served on small tables, and music was
f urnshed by the excellent West Junior High School orchestra. This
affair, all declared to be one of the most charming ever given.
Pioneer Stake
As a fitting close to the season's work, and also to celebrate
the organization of the Pioneer stake Relief Society in 1904, a
delightful entertainment was given by the officers of the Pioneer
stake Relief Society, on June 28, 1929, in Pioneer Stake Hall. The
610 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
hall was beautifully decorated with summer flowers. After a short
musical program, a pageant depicting the organization and growth
of the Relief Society work of the Pioneer stake, was given. It
was an excellent portrayal of the patriotic service rendered by these
women during the 25 years since the organization. Dealing with
a very important historic period, it showed the manifold activities —
philanthropy, patriotism, and also the educational and spiritual
development. The pageant portrayed the helpful work of the
women of this stake during the World War, the institution of a
stake library, and other examples of real progress. Music was
furnished by a string orchestra. Beautiful costumes in pastel shades,
worn by the dancers, who were a part of the pageant, made a very
lovely picture. Not the least interesting, however, was the living
picture of the women responsible for this work — the former pres-
idents of the stake.
After the closing remarks, the afternoon was spent in games
and social entertainment, at which all the wards of the stake were
guests, and were served with delicious refreshments.
Big Horn Stake
The motto for the year 1929 in the Big Horn stake has been
"Self Improvement/' At the same time it was the special aim of
the Relief Society to build up and improve the work of the visit-
ing teachers. The work is responding to the efforts put forth, and
improving in a satisfactory ,manner. At the Work and Business
Meetings a plan has been put into effect whereby every member,
no matter how varied the talents, would be interested and employed.
One group would furnish the entertainment, and another the
luncheon, the latter often supplying a recipe for the dish served if
the members so desired. The second group would paint vases or
frame pictures, while the third would be making quilts or some
one or the other of the old home arts. This plan, decidedly success-
ful, has greatly increased attendance at the Work and Business
Meeting.
Big Horn stake has gone through the process of early pioneer-
ing, where all energy was spent in subduing the soil. Maintenance
of life having been successfully accomplished, the sisters of the
Relief Society feel that beautifying the land is the next great
achievement. To this end, the flower department of the Relief
Society has asked every woman to plant a shrub or ornamental tree.
Over a thousand shrubs have been planted, one ward alone plant-
ing 243.
Ward conferences this year have been in keeping with the
flower program, the churches being always decorated for the oc-
casion. One little branch held its conference so early that there was
not a flower in the village, nevertheless a beautiful bowl of
Chinese Lilies graced the speakers' stand. It was only on close
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 611
scrutiny that it was discovered that the bulbs were onions, while
clever paper flowers duplicated real lilies.
Annual day, in the Big Horn stake, is fast becoming an out-
standing event. The wonderful spirit at these gatherings adds
much to the work. Good programs both spontaneous and pre-
viously arranged, together with pageants and one act plays, help to
make the day enjoyable.
The Glee Club is carrying out a fine program, and furnishes
excellent music at the various meetings.
The work of compiling the Cook Book is nearly completed,
and the stake board is convinced that it will be a monument to the
good cooks of the organization.
So many of the wards desired to continue the weekly meetings
during the months of July and August that the following program
for summer activities was decided upon : For July, Testimony
Meeting : theme, "Ideals of Our Pioneers" ; at the Work and
Business Meeting, besides continuation of the present plan of
work, a program giving biographies of the early stake presidents ;
on July 16, "The American Indian;" on July 23, Home talent;
night or a pageant; and so on through the summer, always with
something particularly appropriate to the times.
Woodruff Stake
On Thursday, August 15, 1929,* the Woodruff stake Relief
Societies held an exhibit in the Evanston ward chapel. One hun-
dred and fifty persons were present. The exhibits comprised di-
verse kinds of handwork, cut flowers and living plants. Each
ward made a special prize quilt, the quilts being especially excellent.
Officers of the Lyman stake were present, and acted as judges of
the exhibit. During the program a thirty-second silent tribute of
love and respect was paid to the memory of Mrs. Sarah Martin
of the Hilliard ward, recently deceased, whose loss is deeply felt.
The exhibit was an unqualified success, promising much good for
the future.
A Thanksgiving Prayer
By Elsie E. Barrett
Dear Lord, we are thankful for health,
For the bearing of burdens each day;
For the friends who have made our lives brighter,
For Thy mercies along the dark way.
Grant us wisdom, O Lord, every hour,
All the true from the false may we see ;
May we find greater joy in true service,
And be worthy all blesings from Thee.
Guide Lessons for January
LESSON I
Theology and Testimony
(First Week in January)
BOOK OF MORMON
LESSON 4— PROPHECIES AND DOCTRINES
This lesson includes the matter between Second Nephi, chapter
25, and the end of the Book of Jacob — pages 106 to 150, inclusive.
There is almost no narrative or story details in the lesson, the
only thing of the kind being the account of the kings after Nephi
I, the incident about Sherem, and the suggestion of diffculties
between the Nephites and the Lamanites. The great bulk of the
matter, as suggested in the title of the present lesson, is an ex-
planation of doctrines. Following is a brief outline :
I. The Word of Nephi.
1. Prophecies (Chapter 25-30).
a. Concerning the Jerusalem of Nephi's day.
b. Concerning Christ among the Jews.
( 1 ) His name foretold.
(2) Rejection of him by Jews.
. Concerning the "last days."
(1) Coming of the Book of Mormon.
To whom given.
How viewed by Gentiles.
Value to mankind.
(2) Conditions at time book is given.
(3) Times subsequent to appearance of book.
2. Teachings.
a. Baptism of Christ — significance.
(1) Obedience in ordinances.
(2) Narrowness of way suggested.
b. Reception of Holy Ghost.
c. Prayer a safeguard afterwards.
II. Book of Jacob.
1. Jacob receives "Small Plates."
2. Political events — kings.
3. Teachings and warnings.
a. Pride over riches.
b. "Fornication and lasciviousness."
4. Parable of the Vineyard.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JANUARY 613
a. The parable itself.
b. Interpretation of it.
5. Incident of Sherem.
a. Sherem's fascination and doctrine.
b. WJiat became of it.
6. Conflicts with Lamanites.
Notes
1. The Miracle of Prophecy. Of all the miracles we read
about in sacred literature, the least explainable or even under-
standable is that of prophecy. Yet it was one of the commonest
with the ancient prophets, whether in the Hebrew or the Nephite
nation. And certainly one of the most remarkable is the one by
Nephi in this lesson. For in it he tells us about Christ among the
Jewish people and the Nephites, who was not to come for almost
six hundred years ; about the coming forth of the Book of Mor-
mon and how it would be looked upon by the people among whom
it appeared; about the religious conditions at the time of its ap-
pearance ; and what would take place among the nations after its
coming forth.
One part of this prophecy, or rather series of prophecies, is
equally striking whether we regard the prediction as being uttered
by Nephi twenty-five hundred years ago or by Joseph Smith a
year or so before its fulfilment. It is the statement of how the
book the prophet was then translating would be received, or,
strictly, rejected by the people. "A bible!" they are made to
exclaim, "a bible ! we have a bible and need no more bible." As
a matter of fact, that is the very language objectors to the Book
of Mormon have been using for a hundred years — Christians, all.
The remarkable character of this forecast would at once appear,
if we should ask any author today in the beginning of his work to
foretell the exact words the public will use when it is issued.
One of the puzzling things about this attitude of Christian
people towards the Nephite Record is their thoughtless incon-
sistency in the matter. For here they are, on the one hand, hope-
lessly divided religiously, a condition due to the inadequacy of the
Hebrew Scriptures, and there they are, on the other hand, refusing
even to consider a volume that purports to be from God and that
makes 'plain what is obscure in the book they accept as the word
of God. "Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel!"
2. Nephi on Baptism. It is a strange thing that Nephi
should give a discourse on baptism six hundred years before
John the Baptist teaches it. Which goes to show that it is one of
the oldest of the ordinances in the Church, and not at all confined
to the Christian dispensation and after.
But Nephi has some views on the subject that have not been
sufficiently considered, even by those who have taught and prac-
614 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ticed the ordinance as much as we have. For instance, he gives
two reasons for the baptism of our Savior, and this centuries
before the event. They are, first, that Jesus wanted to set the
pattern in obedience and, second, that he wanted to show how
strait and narrow the Way is. (The word is improperly spelled
"straight" in the Book of Mormon ; in the Gospel it is given as
"strait," which means "confined, distressful, difficult" — very ob-
viously Nephi's meaning.) In addition to that he throws light
on the remission of sin in baptism. It is in the "baptism by fire
and the Holy Ghost" that sins are remitted or forgiven, whereas
we have always connected it with baptism by water ; and Nephi's
explanation appears the more reasonable.
The prophet says nothing about faith and repentance here, but
takes it for granted that they will have been already adopted by
the candidate for baptism. For no one would be baptized unless
he had repented first, and he would not have repented unless he
had believed before that. So Nephi's exposition may be termed
an exposition of the "first principles and ordinances of the gospel,"
and certainly it is one of the finest to be found anywhere — brief,
clear, simple, easy to understand.
Indeed it goes farther than the first step in salvation, for it
includes the rest of the plan. And what do you suppose that is?
Prayer. Nothing can go to the heart of the matter any better than
that. For prayer keeps one in close touch with the divine Spirit,
and keeping in tune with that, one is not likely to stray far from
the path or be in a quandary what to do as one goes along.
An excellent little treatise on the subject, these two chapters,
and excellently worded too.
3. The Small Plates. Here is as good a place as any to
take up a matter that is often found puzzling in the study of the
Book of Mormon. It is the matter of plates.
One gathers from several passages in the Record that the
people of Nephi were taught to read, that there was popular
education to that extent at least. In connection with Sherem we
are told that the people "searched the scriptures," after which
> they "hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man."
These scriptures, Orson Pratt thought, were "probably copies made
from the Brass Plates" — that is, the writings which Lehi brought
with him from Jerusalem. If so, then the Nephites would most
likely have copies on some other material than gold plates. For
Jacob (4:1) speaks of the "difficulty of engraving our words
upon plates," and infers that the reason for writing on plates was
"that the things which we write upon plates must remain." And
he goes on to say that "whatsoever things we write upon any
thing, save it be upon plates, must perish and vanish away." The
clear inference here is that they did have "other things" upon
which they wrote "things" that were not intended to be per-
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JANUARY 615
manently preserved. What these were the Book of Mormon does
not inform us.
Nephi began and carried on a history of his people from the
time the colony left Jerusalem till his death, and requested that
the work be continued by his historian successors — which was
done. This work was on what he called the "larger plates," and
covered mainly political events. But as he went on, he was re-
quested to make "smaller plates," for a "wise purpose" in the
Lord of which he, Nephi, was in the dark, and on these he was to
record the distinctively religious history of his people — prophecy,
doctrine, religious development, miracles, revelation, and so on.
And this he did.
This "wise purpose" did not come to view till Joseph Smith
translated the golden volume, in 1829. With Martin Harris as
amanuensis, he translated the first leaves of the larger plates of
the book — which covered one hundred sixteen pages of manu-
script. This manuscript Martin Harris lost, and the Prophet was
advised not to attempt a re-translation but instead to substitute
the "smaller plates" for that part of the "larger plates" of the
regular record. Thus it is that we have "the more religious part"
of the Book of Mormon to begin with — the first one hundred
fifty-seven pages of our present volume.
As for the rest of our book, it is nearly all an abridgment of
the general record of the Nephites, made by a man named Mor-
mon, who lived toward the close of the Nephite nation — almost
a thousand years away from the first Nephi. This is why the
Nephite Record as we have it is called the "Book of Mormon."
Between the "smaller plates" of Nephi and this abridgment is
an introductory chapter, called the "Words of Mormon." So that
the Book of Mormon in its present form comprises (1) the small
plates of Nephi, (2) an abridgment of the general history of the
Nephites by Mormon, (3) an abridgment of the record of
an earlier people called Jaredites by Moroni, son of Mormon,
and (4) some closing chapters by Moroni.
4. The Sealed Book. In our present lesson Nephi calls at-
tention to a point in connection with the golden volume delivered
by Moroni to Joseph Smith, which deserves a paragraph or two
here.
That book, as we know, consisted of two parts — one of free
leaves, about two-thirds, and another of leaves that were sealed,
about one-third. Only the unsealed part was translated by the
Prophet. What was the sealed part about ? When are we to know
its contents? Nephi answers these questions in a general way
in our text.
The sealed part of the book, according to our authority, is
"a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the
ending thereof." It was not translated by the Prophet and its
contents made known at the time because of the "wickedness and
616 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
abominations of the people." Moreover, "the revelation which
was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of
the Lord, that they may come forth ; for behold, they reveal all
things from the foundation of the world to the end thereof."
Then these words of the sealed part "shall be read upon the house
tops ; and they shall be read by the power of Christ ; and all things
shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been
among the children of men, and which ever will be, even unto the
end of the earth."
Hence the Latter-day Saints have something t© look forward
to in connection with the Book of Mormon. After Joseph had
finished translating the Record, he gave the plates, sealed and
unsealed, back to the angel, "who has them to this day." So
that when the time comes for the part which was sealed to be made
known, the book will be available for the purpose.
It is a very interesting world in which we live.
Questions
1. Tell about the sealed and the unsealed part of the Book
of Mormon.
2. Explain the larger plates and the smaller plates of which
Nephi speaks in the text.
3. What was the "wise purpose" in the making of the small
plates ?
4. Give the substance of Nephi's discourse on baptism.
5. Why is prophecy miraculous? Would it be a good
thing for us to know all about what is to happen to us before it
comes ? Why ?
6. Is what is prophesied bound to happen because it is fore-
seen? Or has the foreseeing of it anything to do with making it
come to pass? Explain in the light of Martin Harris's episode
and the small plates.
7. What does Jacob have in mind when he speaks of wives
and concubines?
LESSON II
Work and Business
TEACHERS' TOPIC FOR JANUARY
(This topic is to be given at the special teachers' meeting the first
week in January)
CHEERFULNESS
I. Cheerfulness implies a bright and equable temper and shows
itself in the face, the voice, the action.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR IANUARY 617
II. Cheerfulness a Gospel Doctrine.
1. Men are that they might have joy. — II Nephi, 2:25.
Faith promotes cheerfulness ; repentance assures us of it ;
the Gift of the Holy Ghost gives utterance through a cheer-
ful heart.
2. Scriptures admonish us to be cheerful.
Serve the Lord with cheerful heart and countenance. —
Doc. and Cov. Sec. 59:15-18.
Be of good cheer, it is I.— Matt. 14:27.
Be of good cheer, Paul. — Acts 23 :11.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. — Proverbs
17:22.
III. Cheerfulness a Positive Power in Character Building.
1. It can be taught and learned.
Serenity of mind comes easy to some, hard to others.
Teach the duty of happiness as well as the happiness of
duty.
Let the child feel the joy of doing some kind act each.
day for some one else, and to express his feelings to you,
his mother.
Encourage children to sing and whistle at their work, to
see the funny side, to look for and tell a good joke tas
Abraham Lincoln did.
2. Cheerfulness is as contagious as measles.
Children are sensitive to the emotional moods of the family.
How essential, then, for parents to be cheerful. Cheerful-
ness dispels gloom and doubt.
Cheerfulness in the home is to children as sunshine is to
flowers.
If people only knew the medicinal power of laughter, of
good cheer, of the constant, unrepressed expression of joy
and gladness, then half the physicians would be out of
work.
IV. Cheerfulness an Asset in'W inning Success.
It is the bright and cheerful person that wins the final triumph.
Everybody avoids the company of those who are always "blue/'
Be an optimist ; cheerful people are welcome in any group.
"Fate served me meanly but I looked at her and laughed,
That none might know how bitter was the cup I quaffed,
Along came Joy and paused beside me where I sat,
Saying, 'I came to see what you were laughing at.' 5
618 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in January)
A SON OF THE MIDDLE BORDER
By Hamlin Garland
Hamlin Garland, author of A Son of the Middle Border and
many other novels, poems, and articles, was born in Wisconsin
in 1860. His birthplace was a frontier farm; his parents were
pioneer people who were wresting from the wilderness a meager
living. Before young Garland was eleven years of age, the
family had moved three different times ever westward to more
thinly populated territory.
Like frontier boys of our own state, Garland attended school
only a few short months during the winter, but finally graduated
from the Cedar Valley Seminary, Iowa, after which he taught
school for a few years. Becoming interested in literature, the
young man finally went East to Boston, where he met a number
of literary men including William Dean Howells. Beginning to
write, he soon was making a fair living.
His Stories Are Stirring
After he had been somewhat weaned from the West, he
returned to visit his parents and family. The prairies took on a
new light. He saw the drudgery and the hopelessness of farm
life as it was then. Returning East, he wrote a book of short
stories, which he called "Main Traveled Roads." This book was
published in 1891. These stories, in the opinion of many people,
still rank as Garland's best, for he was at home in them and spoke
out of a sore heart.
Fred Lewis Patee says : "What Mrs. Freeman did for New
England, Hamlin Garland did for the Middle West, the only
difference being that Garland was the pioneer depicter of his
middle border farm lands and Mrs. Freeman was the last of a
long line of story tellers dealing with Yankee life." "His pictures
grip the imagination like Zola's," Mr. Patee continues; "they do
not depress, they anger, they stir the blood, they call for action."
Garland has written a number of strong poems also. Though
he is now a man 69 or 70 years of age, he is still at work. Few
of the things he ever wrote can be loved for their sweetness, but
they can all be admired for their strength and vigor.
Anyone who has been reared on a farm any place in the West
will find in Garland's A Son of the Middle Border, a partial rela-
tion, at least, of the story of his own life. In this story of a pioneer
GUIDE LESSONS FOR IANUARY 619
family, Mr. Garland has given us pictures of farm life that in
color and realism have never been equaled in any other literature
that I have read.
Gives Both Sides of Farm Life
Usually those who know little about farm life have been the
ones who have romanced about it. James Whitcomb Riley, for
instance, a youth who never spent a day on the farm in his life
except as a visitor or on-looker, gave us "When the Frost Is on
the Pumpkin" and other similar poems ; true pictures, certainly,
but revealing only one side of farm life. Mr. Garland has given
us in a masterly manner both sides.
On account of his realism, Hamlin Garland has been classed
with the writers of protest. His Main Traveled Roads, a book of
short stories mentioned in A Son of the Middle Border, reveals, as
no other stories have ever done, the sordid side of farm life, the
drudgery, the struggle. In fact, they have been important in
bettering conditions on farms. They are the "Uncle Tom's
Cabin" of the farmer and his wife and children. So austere were
they that even many farmers said they were overdrawn ; but they
served to hold up before the American people the hopeless con-
dition of the farm folk.
Fred Lewis Patee in his American Literature Since 1870,
says of A. Son of the Middle Border, "It is an autobiography
and it is more ; it is a document in the history of the Middle West.
It has a value above all his novels, above all else that he has
written, saving always those tense short stories of his first in-
spiration."
Typical Pictures of Men and Boys
In this book we have an excellent picture of Garland himself,
and in addition some epic pictures of his relatives, fearless and
fine pioneers of the Middle Border. The Garlands, the McClin-
tocks, and a few of the neighbors are drawn with a masterly
hand, as are the farm scenes that adorn the pages of this most
interesting volume.
"The Old Soldier," Garland's father, is a typical pioneer such
as are found in scores of homes in our own intermountain West,
yes, in practically every family. Few of us who read the book
will lay it down without saying, "This man Garland was just like
father," or Uncle Jim, or some other of our relatives or friends.
Ever looking beyond the sunset, ever eager to engage in the
struggle with virgin sod, ever determined to make next year pay,
Mr. Garland was just like many a "Mormon" pioneer who has
written history in the sage and soil.
David McClintock, especially, is another picture of a great
man that will haunt the reader. Big, brave, but artistic of soul,
620 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
he was not especially made for the prairie, where his lot was
ever cast and where he played a losing game. A dreamer who
could not bring himself steadily to fight the grim battle expected
of him, he saw his less talented yet thriftier neighbors increase
in property as he declined. That story has been told a thousand
times on the frontier, where there never is a variety of employment.
The misfits are always pathetic though lovable and fine.
Hamlin Garland is called a realist, a writer who sees the
romance of life, but penetrates it and tells also of the realties. As
is indicated in this book under consideration, he was a worshiper
of Howells and Walt Whitman, brief portraits of whom he gives
in his masterly manner. The very fact that The Hoosier School
Master was so keenly enjoyed by this middle-border boy would
indicate, perhaps, that in his own writing he would turn rather to
realism than to romance.
"This Land of My Childhood"
The whole gamut of a farm boy's likes and dislikes is run in
this book — from Thanksgiving on the farm to milking cows in
muddy weather and fanning wheat by hand. Nothing, or very
little, at least, is left out. The author's memories are so strong
upon him that he bursts out, after describing a country Thanks-
giving visit, "It all lies in the unchanging realm of the past — this
land of my childhood. Its charm, its strange dominion, cannot
return save in the poet's reminiscent dream. No money, no
railway train, can take us back to it. It did not in truth exist —
it was a magical world born of the vibrant union of youths and
firelight, of music and the voice of moaning winds — a union which
can never come again to you or me, father, uncle, brother, till the
coulee meadows bloom again unscarred of spade or plow."
That nature, surrounding the boy on the prairies, had its
effect upon him is indicated by passages like this one taken from
Chapter Eight : "Meanwhile above our heads the wild ducks again
pursued their northward flight, and the far honking of the geese
fell to our ears from the solemn deeps of the windless night. On
the first dry warm ridges the prairie cocks began to boom, and then
at last came the day when father's imperious voice rang high in
familiar command, 'Out with the drags, boys ! We start seeding
tomorrow'."
In the latter part of the book the budding author and school
teacher is more and more in the East with his work ; but his heart
remains in the West despite the commiseration he feels for his
family when he returns to visit them.
Garland's Own Life Is Portrayed
The Son of the Middle Border is his autobiography. It
begins with his very early youth when his father, a soldier in the
Civil War, returns home at its close to take up life where he had
GUIDE LESSONS FOR IANUARY 621
left it off. The story pictures the Garlands and the McClintocks,
a family of which Hamlin's mother was a member. It then goes
forward picturing the grim struggle with poverty on one hand and
the stubborn virgin soil on the other as the family moves west-
ward, ever westward, until they at length reach North Dakota.
Young Garland obtains an education through self-struggle,
and with a little help prepares for teaching. Eventually he goes
East, where he meets a number of authors whose influence leads
him to attempt to write. His first productions were what we would
now call feature articles; later he began writing short stories
and novels with the farm life of the Middle Border as the back-
grounds. With these he was very successful, for the reason
that he had struck into a field which had never before been used
to any great extent by writers.
His parents grew poorer and poorer on their big homestead
in Dakota until at last the successful young author returned, in-
duced them to sell their farm and return to Wisconsin to a" home
he had awaiting them.
"The first question which you have a right to ask me is this :
Is it true?" says Mr. Garland in a foreword addressed to "My
Young Readers." He replies, "My answer is as direct as your
question, It is"
Since this book will probably be in every public library and in
most high school libraries and since an excellent edition may be
obtained for $1, I shall not attempt to quote more from it.
My suggestion would be for the one who gives it in the class
to have the book with her well-marked in order that she may read
striking passages or passages that give good pictures of these
pioneers of the Middle West who, after all, are much like our own
pioneers. Some of the farm scenes might be read and discussed
as well as passages of beauty such as are found at the close of
chapter fifteen, in the middle of chapter twenty and elsewhere.
This book, as printed in "The Modern Readers Series," has
questions and helps at the back which may prove helpful.
Questions and Problems
1. Who is Hamlin Garland? Why has he a right to picture
farm life?
2. How does he rank as a writer of short stories and novels ?
3. Are his pictures of farm life too grim?
4. Why might his stories be called the "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
of farm folk?
5. Read "Under the Lion's Paw" and "Up the Coulee" and
"Among the Corn Rows;" then comment upon their pictures of
farm life.
6. Read passages that to you were especially impressive.
7. What effect has the life of Hamlin Garland had on the
west?
622 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in January)
THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK
Lesson 1. The Nature and Scope of Social Work
We now begin a consideration of the six lessons devoted to
the Field of Social Work. The purpose of this and the five les-
sons which follow is to acquaint our members with the nature and
scope of social work as an endeavor to promote human happiness.
We shall, of necessity, have to be brief. Class leaders and others
will find the references cited in these lessons helpful in elaborating
the subjects treated.
The six lessons will include ( 1 ) the nature and scope of social
work,. (2) poverty and dependency, (3) physical and mental dis-
eases, (4) physical and mental defects, (5) crime and delinquency,
and (6) the organization and administration of social work.
WHAT IS SOCIAL WORK?
The following definitions are selected from among the best
and most representative:
Social work is not a clearly defined single field corresponding
to a single need, but includes many diverse occupations which have
as their tasks to supplement the work of the other professions.
For example, the school visitor supplements the work of the
teacher ; the public health nurse the work of the physician ; the
family visitor the work of parents ; the Bureau of Personal Serv-
ice, or Legal Aid Society, or probation officer, and the settlement
worker is found on many kinds of committees. (Tufts, Education
and Training for Social Work, Russell Sage Foundation, 1923.)
In the United States of America "social work" has come into
use in recent years as a comprehensive term, including reformation
and all other conscious efforts, whether by the state or on private
initiative, to provide for the dependent, the sick, and the criminal ;
to diminish the amount of poverty, disease, and crime, and to
improve general living and working conditions. (Edward T. De-
vine and Lilian Brandt, American Social Work in the Twentieth
Century.)
Social work is the business of producing, changing or adjusting
social organizations and procedure in the interests of human wel-
fare according to scientific standards. (L. A. Halbert, What is
Profesional Social Work? The Survey, New York, 1923, page 25.)
Perhaps the nearest we can come to a definition is to say that
social work is the art of adjusting personal relationships, of help-
ing to overcome the difficulties which may arise — for example, be-
tween native and foreign born, between employer and employee,
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JANUARY 623
between school and home. (Stuart A. Queen, Social Work in the
Light of History, Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1922, page 18.)
WHAT FORMS DOES SOCIAL WORK TAKE?
There are many ways of classifying the various fields of social
work. As a matter of fact, there is no one exact way. The fol-
lowing, for instance, is a classification of the fields of social work
based on their relation to various institutions and to society as a
whole. It is the work of Tufts, in the book cited above, page 24.
1. As related to the Family :
worker are found on many kinds of committees. (Tufts, Education
Care for the family as a whole, Family Welfare Societies,*
Home Service of Red Cross, Public Welfare Departments doing
"case work" in families.
Care for special types of adult or adolescent individuals such as
deserted wives, unmarried mothers, the aged ; Domestic Rela-
tions Courts.
Care for children, in their own homes, through child-placing
agencies, through protective agencies, in institutions.
Housing, considered from the point of view of the homes of
families, and of men and women not in families.
Visiting housekeeper or visiting dietitian.
2. As related to Government :
Civic agencies designed to organize public opinion for reform
or improvement of government or for co-operation with it,
reform leagues, city clubs, committees of various sorts with pro-
fessional executives or secretaries.
Offices of government, particularly in the administrative depart-
ments which have to do with giving relief, with mothers' pen-
sions, with factory legislation and child labor laws, with institu-
tions for the care of the blind, the insane, the sick, the dependent
and the delinquent. The Children's Bureau, juvenile resarch
bureaus.
The legal field, including especially the juvenile court, with its
agents ; probation officers, and parole officers ; legal aid societies,
for aiding discharged prisoners ; societies which include both
public officials and others interested in penal problems, such as
the American Prison Association and its various affiliated so-
cieties.
3. As related to Economic Institutions :
Agriculture, county agents, home demonstrators, leaders of
boys' and girls' clubs, such as poultry clubs, corn clubs, and the
like.
Commerce, associations of commerce, chambers of commerce,
in so far as these take an interest in community problems.
*The L. D. S. Relief Society would be classed as a family welfare
society.
624 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Industry, employment management, arbitration procedure,
nurses, recreation leadership, administration of workingmen's
compensation, labor unions (in certain aspects.)
4. As related to Hygiene and Medicine :
Public health, including physicians, inspectors, nurses, labora-
tory workers, and other officials.
Special fields, anti-tuberculosis campaigns, tuberculosis sani-
taria, social hygiene committees and leagues.
Visiting nurses.
Hospital social work.
Nutrition work (which might be included also under care for
children or under work of home demonstrators in the rural
field).
Psychiatric social work.
Mental hygiene.
5. As related to Organised Recreation: (This is analogous to 3
above in that recreation like the economic field is supposed to
be primarily left to individual initiative, but is found to need
attention from the point of view of social and public interests.)
Recreation for children, playgrounds, summer camps.
Recreation for young people and adults, club work, gymnasiums,
community music, pageants, dramatic presentations. (Recre-
ation cannot be sharply defined from the fields of hygiene, of
education, and of ministration to the higher community life
through the nobler arts. )
6. As related to Education and the Arts:
The school as social center in both rural and urban districts.
The work of school visitor or visiting teacher.
Vocational guidance.
Providing scholarships for children otherwise unable to remain
in school.
The public library.
' Clubs for study, reading, parliamentary practice, debate.
Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls.
Education of special groups, such as immigrants, workers, illit-
erate adults, et cetera.
Education in music, and the graphic and plastic arts.
7. As related to Organised Religion :
Work of the church or synagogue along similar lines to those
noted under 1, 4, 5, and 6 above.
Work of the Young Men's Christian Association and Young
Women's Christian Association, Knights and Ladies of Colum-
bus, and the Young Men's Hebrew Association for young
people in cities.*
*The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Assocnation, the Young
Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association, and the Primary Association
naturally fall into this group.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JANUARY 625
Rural work of the church.
Community work of the Young Men's Christian Association
and Young Women's Christian Association.
Industrial work of the Young Men's Christian Association and
Young Women's Christian Association.
Work of the Salvation Army, Volunteers of America.
8. As related to Institutions, for cultivation of Friendship or
Mutual Aid : Clubs for children and adolescents.
(Certain types of social work are not comprehended under any
of the above classes. The reason why they cannot be placed
in relation to some one institution may be either because they
supplement several institutions, or because they aim to supply
some need or to promote some end for which society has not as
yet organized any specific institution.)
9. Activities for certain groups, racial, geographic, occupational,
which combine several of the fields above named :
Work with immigrants, with the Negro, with the American
Indians.
Specially organized work for the mill village, the mining
community or the lumber community, or for homeless and
migratory groups.
City clubs, community centers, the Country Life movement.
10. The Settlement.
A second method of classifying social work is that of listing
the various types of work done in a typical community. The
following list, taken from the charities directories of New
York and Philadelphia, presents a cross-section of social work.
The multiplicity and range of social-work activities will readily
be seen.
1919 1920
New York Philadelphia
Agencies having to do with health 412 224
Child welfare agencies 233 147
Settlements,* social centers and housekeep-
ing centers 227 608
Relief societies 180 102
Societies for civic and economic betterment
by means of surveys, investigations, edu-
cation of the public, etc 157 369
Adult homes 136 112
Agencies for obtaining or providing em-
ployment 123 46
Special educational opportunities, agricul-
tural, musical, etc 118 71
*The Neighborhood House is perhaps the best example of a settlement
that we have in this region.
626 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Philanthropic agencies with a predominantly
religious purpose 96 191
Agencies interested in naturalization, colo-
nization and work for immigrants 91 28
Correctional and protective agencies 81 54
Societies serving special groups 81 60
Negroes 29 36
Soldiers, sailors, or
their dependents 25 10
Clergymen 8
Medical men 7
Indians 5
Artists 4
Firemen 3
Recreational facilities 63 88
Banking, loan and saving societies 23 10
Milk stations, diet kitchens and lunch rooms . 20 23
Conferences and federations which include
social work agencies 12 20
Legal aid societies 11 2
Societies for the protection of animals 9 14
A third method is illustrated by the divisions of the National
Conference of Social Work, an organization of social workers
which meets annually in various parts of the United States to
consider the current problems and practices in the field.
Division I — Children.
Division II — Delinquents and Correction.
Division III — Health.
Division IV — The Family.
Division V — Industrial and Economic Problems.
Division VI — Neighborhood and Community Life.
Division VII — Mental Hygiene.
Division VIII — (Organization of Social Forces.
Division IX — Public Officials and Administration.
Division X — The Immigrant.
Division XI — Professional Standards and Education.
Division XII — Educational Publicity.
HOW IS SOCIAL WORK RELATED TO THE OTHER
PROFESSIONS?
Measured by the accepted standards of a profession, social
work and social workers are truly professional. In the first place
social work and social workers have no ulterior purpose in their
work. The client in social work, as the patient in medicine, is the
center of attenton. His interests and his welfare are always
uppermost. In the second place the field comprises a definite body
GUIDE LESSONS FOR JANUARY 627
of principles and practice for which training is necessary. In the
third place the profession is controlled by its members and all
who are identified with it are governed by a democratically-evolved
set of ethical standards. In these respects and in many other
ways social work is on a par with law, medicine, engineering,
nursing, teaching, etc.
Social work is both auxiliary and a separate field of activity.
It is auxiliary in the sense that many of its services are the
logical extensions of already-existing professional activities. As
has already been suggested, the medical social worker, for example,
might be viewed as an auxiliary to the physician; the legal aid
worker as an auxiliary to the court; the visiting teacher as an
auxiliary in the school, etc.
And yet, in a very real sense, social work is a distinct pro-
fession, corordinate in rank and independence with the traditional
professions just mentioned. Thus, the service of the family case
worker is altogether unique and is auxiliary to no already- existing
profession or field of endeavor. This is also true of many other
social workers, such as the community organizer, the public
welfare administrator, the social executive, the social investigator,
etc.
In these respects then we have a new profession calling for
education and skill, the equal of that required in law, in teaching,
and even in medicine. Proof of this fact is the existence in the
United States today of over twenty schools — most of which are
connected with colleges and universities — for the professional
training of social workers.
To be sure, a great deal of social work has been — and still is
— done by intelligent, untrained volunteers. The tendency, how-
ever, is more and more in the direction of professional training.
There are, however, many forms of social work which can be done
by volunteers working under the direction of trained social
workers. One of the outstanding features of Relief Society work
is the stupendous service which has been rendered by thousands of
intelligent Christian women whose chief equipment for their work-
is their general education, their common sense and their love for
their fellowmen. It is unnecessary to add that this work is greatly
appreciated.
Questions
1. In what respect do the definitions for social work given
above differ from one another? What is your own (or your
class leader's) definition?
2. What are the specific problems attacked by social work?
3. What social and economic conditions have brought social
work about?
628 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
4. How is social work related to alms giving? How does
it differ?
5. What are the specific forms of social work in your
community ?
6. How does the procedure of a trained social worker differ
from that of an untrained volunteer?
7. What are some of the commoner objections to professional
social work and social workers? How valid are these objections?
8. What, in your opinion, are the qualifications for a social
worker, on the side of (a) personality, (b) education, (c) train-
ing?
9. What problems in your community might be better solved
if the services of trained social workers were available?
References
(In communities where there is a public library, stake officers
will do well to ask the local librarian to secure and place on
reserve the following books.)
1. Karl De Schweinitz, The Art of Helping People Out of
Trouble; Houghton, Boston,
2. Stuart A. Queen, Social Wwrk in the Light of History;
J. B. Lippincott and Company, Philadelphia.
3. Alice S. Cheyney, The Nature and Scope of Social Work ;
American Association of Social Workers, New York, price 50c.
4. The Annual Proceedings of the National Conference of
Social Work; University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
5. Robert Kelso, The Science of Public Welfare; Henry
Holt and Company, New York.
6. The Survey (published twice a month).
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The Presidency of the Church,
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The Burial Clothes Department
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Selected from our extensive line of L. D. S. Garments we suggest the
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In ordering, be sure to specify whether old or new style garments,
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ociecy
Marine
The Madonna Del Granduca Frontispiece
Madonna Claire Stewart Boyer 631
The Holy Family 632
A Day in a Jewish Village in Russia
Dr. Franklin S. Harris 633
Music in the Home of Hamlin Garland.. 639
Evergreen Elsie Talmage Brandley 640
Memory Vesta Pierce Crawford 651
Semi-Annual Conference of the Relief So-
ciety Julia A. F. Lund 652
Children's Books Lais Vernon Hales 662
Childhood Tuberculosis
H. E. Kleinschmidt, M. D. 665
Guide Lessons for February 667
The Names of Santa Claus ^72
Organ of the Relief Society of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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The Madonna Del Granduca
By Raphael
MADONNA
By Claire Stewart Boyer
Her
love
springs
elemental
from a great
maternal sod,
And grows and
reaches till it holds
The very stars of God;
Her duties are the shining
* * * joys * * *
That grace Maternity
And hang like Christmas
ornaments
upon
that
holy
tree*
rfflf
The Holy Family
By Murillo
THE
Relief Society Magazine
Vol. XVI DECEMBER, 1929 No. 12
A Day in a Jewish Village in Russia
By Franklin S. Harris, President, Brigham Young University
I should like to have you go with me for a day to a Jewish
village in southwest Russia in what is known as the Ukraine.
We shall take the evening train at Moscow. After traveling
southwest for about twenty-four hours, we pass through the beau-
tiful city of Kiev, situated on a high bank overlooking the Dnie-
per river. Kiev has one of the most interesting histories of any
city in Europe, but that is another story. The village that we
are to visit is further on southwest.
In the study which I am making as a member of a Com-
mission for planning the colonization of the Jewish people of
Russia, it is desirable to get a clear insight into the inner life of
the Jewish people, hence the visit to many of the places where
they are living. The village to which I am taking you is one of
the many places examined by the members of our commission.
This particular village was visited by Mr. L and me. He was
born there and has many relatives living in the vicinity, and has
an intimate knowledge of the conditions.
The through train on which we were riding did not stop at
this village, so we had to go on to the next one, where, at three
o'clock in the morning, we were met by two of Mr. L's brothers
and a number of relatives. Waiting till nearly five, we took the
local train back to the village. A large group of Mr. L's rela-
tives was at the station to meet us.
It may be needless to say that there are no sidewalks on
pavements in a village of this kind, and the black, heavy soil'
makes first-class mud. Mr. L cmd I were put into the one
waiting Isvostchik, a one-horse, buggy-like conveyance used all
over Russia, and were taken to the house of one of the brothers,
while the others trailed after us through the mud. After the
greetings, we had to partake of refreshments; then came visiting
between Mr. L and his relatives whom he had not seen for more
than two years. There were brothers, and brothers-in-law, cous-
634
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
A Business Street in a Jewish Russian Village
ins, and cousins-in-law, and all the children, making up about
thirty in all.
As everywhere in Russia this household was very much
crowded. The theory at the present time in this country is that
all houses belong to the Government, which assigns on the aver-
age about one room to the family ; but since this family had a
number of branches and many children, four rooms were assigned
to it.
During the day Yiddish was the principal language spoken.
Occasionally when a non- Jewish person came to visit us, Russian
was used. I knew very little of the latter language, but by us-
ing German I could get along in a fairly satisfactory way with
the Jewish people, and particularly well with the young people,
since they speak more clearly than older ones. Yiddish has
German as its foundation, but has developed into a separate
language using the Hebrew alphabet.
While Mr. L visited the older relatives, I found myself con-
stantly surrounded by a group of young people. There were
two young ladies fifteen or sixteen years old and a boy about
twelve who seemed to be contesting for places near me. In my
more optimistic moments I assumed that they came to me be-
cause they liked me, while during periods of pessimism I decided
that my popularity may have resulted from the fact that they
wanted to hear me speak German, or to hear me tell about Ameri-
ca, or to examine some of my strange personal effects, such as a
A DAY IN A JEWISH VILLAGE
635
pencil that had ink in it. Some of them seem never to have seen
a fountain pen before. Whatever the cause may have been, I
was very much the center of a group. I preferred to look at the
young ladies, but the boy was better to talk to.
There was a brother-in-law who was a bookkeeper, and one
who was a worker in a poultry packing establishment; there was
a nephew who was a photographer and a brother who had a job
that classed him as one of the elect workers. There was an older
brother who had been broken by the vicissitudes of revolution and
persecution; then there were the wives of all of these and the
children.
All in all, they were very much like the families we might
find in any of our smaller towns in Utah. Certainly they were
well informed and as intelligent on general matters as we ordi-
narily encounter. The limitations in household devices and
equipment growing out of raids and persecutions left much to be
desired in the way of arrangement of meals and methods of serv-
ing. They had one distinct luxury in the house, however — a wash
stand, with a tank behind the mirror into which the water was
poured so that it could run out of the tap into the wash basin and
then be drained into a bucket below — a semblance of modern
convenience which I was glad to use.
After breakfast, while the family visited, I took a half hour's
nap since we had been up practically all of the previous nigiht
making connections and seeing the other part of our delegation
get off at their various villages. The beds, somewhat similar to
A Row of Dwelling Houses in a Jewish Russian Village
636 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
those found in Germany, are interesting. They are feather beds
with a large feather pillow which extends nearly to the middle of
the bed. The covering is a sort of light feather bed inclosed in
white linen, which can be changed in place of changing the sheet.
During the middle of the forenoon the clouds cleared away
and the sun came out, so we took a trip through the village. On
the main street we saw rows of peasant women, displaying their
products to all who passed. .They had brought in their eggs and
other wares and were lined up along the street in the mud.;
There were dozens of these street venders with everything from
cloth to live chickens for sale. This street had about ten feet
along the middle paved with cobble rocks. Along this pavement
a constant stream of peasants passed in their little low-wheeled
wagons pulled by tiny ponies. There were groups of people
standing about talking, and everywhere curious eyes were turned
toward us and our photographic apparatus.
Later, during the afternoon, we went out with Mr. L's mov-
ing picture machine. Almost the whole village followed to watch
the process of taking a moving picture. So great was the com-
motion that the local police officials took us in and made us show
our identification papers and explain what we were doing there,
why we should be taking a moving picture, and a lot of other-
questions. We finally answered all of their inquiries and they
released us.
The local photographer wished to take our pictures, copies
of which he said he would send to us. When we went into the
front room studio the curious crowds so filled the door and
jammed the windows that he had to take us out into the back
yard, herding off the crowd while he took our pictures.
In the crowd that passes along the street, most of the women
are in their bare feet, many of them carrying heavy loads, while
some have water in two buckets suspended from a pole over the
shoulders. Many are in rags. As at the Wailing Wall in Je-
rusalem, we see along the way many a Jewish brother with long
whiskers. Most of the young people, however, are wearing
Russian costumes, as if they were courting the favor of the Gov-
ernment by throwing off the ancient costumes.
Most of the houses are built of a sort of adobe or cheap
brick and are plastered with mud, some of them whitewashed.
Although some houses have tile roofs, many are covered with
rye straw about a foot thick. On every hand there is evidence
of poverty. If anyone had means he would not display it in
Russia, because no worse title can be applied to one than to be
called "bourgeoise," and the Government taxes very heavily all
who have more than the average of wealth.
During the afternoon it rained again, so we returned to the
house, where anti- Jewish persecutions of previous years were re-
A DAY IN A JEWISH VILLAGE 637
Thatched Roof House in a Jewish Russian Village
counted. One of the men told how a cousin, who was a dentist,
had been killed by Russian peasants whom he had previously
served free ; but during these pogroms, which are outbursts of
race hatred, no one seems to escape.
During the civil war following the withdrawal of Russia
from the World War there were 2,500 pogroms in 900 separate
cities and towns, some places suffering as high as three, four,
and five such outbreaks ; certain towns were completely wiped
out, men, women, and children being killed. There were 200,000
orphans left and twenty per cent of the women were left widows.
The statement went abroad that all the trouble of the Russians
came from the Jews and the latter were massacred by the thous-
ands. The village in which we are visiting has seen many of
these raids. The recital of the story, with the shedding of many
tears, brought to my mind Haun's Mill, Nauvoo, and Carthage.
The Jewish persecution in Russia is such a manifestation. With
the coming of the new regime, an attempt is made to eliminate all
race persecution and to allow each people to develop its own
culture. The people in the villages, however, have vivid mem-
ories and are in constant fear that something may arise to bring
on a repetition of past atrocities.
With the coming out of the^ sun we got into one of the curious
wagons and rode to a nearby peasant village. We inspected the
local school in a brick building as modern as any such buildings
in those parts. The teacher showed us the semblance of a labora-
tory ; and while he was very proud of the equipment, we would con-
sider it primitive It is, however, a step in the right direction ; and
638
RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
though all could not be accommodated in the school with its two
teachers, there is hope for a new day in Russia due to the in-
creased interest in education.
It must be said to the credit of the Jewish people that they
are easily the best educated group in Eastern Europe. Through-
out the ages, in spite of persecution and poverty, they have main-
tained their interest in education. This is probably one of the
chief reasons why they have been able to survive in the presence
of hostile associates. They have been more capable than the
other peoples, and have got along in spite of adversity.
Our train did not leave until three the next morning, but the
family would not go to bed ; to the last child all insisted on stay-
ing up until our train left. I begged for an opportunity to take
a nap about one o'clock, but was awakened more than an hour
before the train left, so that I would be sure to be ready and so
that there would be a little more visiting. Though most of these
A Girl (Belonging to the
Family that President
fiARRis Visited
A DAY IN A JEWISH, VILLAGE 639
people had been up twenty-four hours, none of them went to bed,
contenting themselves with little naps.
When it came time to go, we all marched in a procession
through the mud. Every child joined the company. One of
the young ladies took hold of my arm on one side and a young
man on the other, so that I should not slip in the mud.
When we reached the station twenty minutes before the
train was due, we found dozens of people sleeping around on
the floor just as they do in all stations in Russia.
At the whistle of the train we said good-bye all around two
or three times and went out and said good-bye again at the car
steps; then I reached out through the car window and shook
hands with everyone as a final farewell. In order to show their
respect two of the men went with us on the train to the next sta-
tion and when they left, each of them gave me a good-bye kiss on
the cheek.
Even though I had known these Jewish people only one day
I seemed very near to them; they were like old friends. I left
with a greater determination than ever that the Commission which
I represented would do everything possible to alleviate their suf-
fering and to give these good people an opportunity to live happy
lives unmolested by hostile neighbors and freed from the abject
poverty which is now their portion.
Music in the Home of Hamlin Garland
In the stirring sketch of pioneer life in "A Son of the Middle Border,"
by Hamlin Garland, we get a splendid idea of what music meant to the
family and its closest neighbors so far removed from contact with the
rest of the world. It was a great part of the entertainment of these early
heroes and heroines. They often spent the evening sitting around the fire-
side singing their favorite songs. Quoting from the story we have Hamlin
Garland's own description of these delightful occasions.
"Our home was a place of song, notwithstanding the severe toil which was de-
manded of every hand, for often of an evening, especially in winter time, father took
his seat beside the fire, invited us to his knees, and called on mother to sing. These
moods were very sweet to us and we usually insisted upon his singing for us. True
he hardly knew one tune from another, but he had a hearty resounding chant which
delighted us, and one of the ballads which we especially liked to hear him repeat was
called 'Down the Ohio'. * * * Mother, on the contrary, was gifted with a voice
of great range and sweetness and from her we always demanded Nellie Wildwood, Lily
Dale, Lorena or some of Root's stirring war songs. We loved her noble, musical
tone, and yet we always enjoyed our father's tuneless roar. There was something
dramatic and moving in each of his ballads. He made the words mean so much.
It is a curious fact that nearly all the ballads which the McClintocks and other of these
powerful young sons of the border loved to sing were sad, * * * and the memory
of their mellow voices creates a golden dusk between me and that far-off cottage."
Having caught the thrill of their favorite music, would it not be a
fitting tribute to these worthy people to sing some of the songs which
they loved so much? With this thought in mind the suggestion is made
to have some of their songs sung on the day when the literary lesson on
"A Son of the Middle Border" is given. If this suggestion finds a favor-
able response "Belle Mahone" and "Lorena" could be sung with great
effect, thus bringing in a bit of the atmosphere of the Garland home. These
were two of the songs Hamlin's mother sang. Many of the songs men-
tioned in the story are out of print, but these two songs can be obtained by
writing to Wm. A. Pond & Co., 18 W., 37th St., New York, or to Daynes
Beebe Music Co., 61-63 South Main St., Salt Lake City.
Evergreen
By Elsie Talmage Brandley
The little pink area on the map which indicates the relative
position of British Columbia is as unenlightening as the tiny black
dot denoting the town of New Michell. A casual glance at the
black dot set so carelessly down upon the pink expanse discovers
nothing except that the dot is perhaps as small as any dot can be
and still retain its standing as a full-fledged dot. A less casual
glance, one colored with a bit of imagination, might lead to the ad-
ditional conclusion that certainly life in such a place must be un-
endurably dull, and that a person was favored of fate if his path
on the map of life lay along a route of more conspicuous dots. But
that conclusion would have been reached before one had heard the
story Ruth Mason had to tell of the joy she had found in New
Michell. After that the thing would assume different propor-
tions, perhaps.
Ruth had lived the whole of her twenty years in Oregon,
where her father operated a large saw and planing mill inherited
from his father. The Masons had been known in the surrounding
counties as the "lumber people" ever since the first of the name had
come west for gold. Finding instead the glory of the Oregon
pines, they settled down to live and work among them. Ruth's
earliest recollections dealt with trips on her father's back across
the little ravine between the large, comfortable log home and the
roaring hungry mill, which they pretended was a giant who must
be given an uninterrupted diet of choice pine-morsels. The spicy
aroma of the woods was her first smell-memory, and she always
felt that the fulness of life's beauty filled her heart as the frag-
rance of the pines filled her nostrils; and the combination had re-
sulted in an unusually fine and contented existence. Her little
girlhood had known nothing of strife, or sorrow. The woods, the
sky, the flowers, her books, family, and curly hair seemed all that
any girl could ask of the gods, and life abundant flowed through
the veins of her. She exulted, she scintillated ; and withal she radi-
ated serenity.
"Funny about Ruth Mason," the few neighbors of the locality
would say. "She never was what you might call pretty, with that
nose; but there's something about her face you like to look at."
Which was quite true. There was a vivacity, a joyousness, about
the girl which made one feel that a light was burning steadily and
brightly behind the gray eyes. Her face, with its crown of wavy
copper hair, was one of those that in passing left the impression
that at least in one girl's heart all was right and good.
She was just twenty when she met Larry Roberts — tall, genial
EVERGREEN 641
Larry, who had come in the capacity of assistant manager of the
New Midhell Lumber Company to learn something of a new plan-
ing mill which the Mason people had installed. The planing ma-
chine amounted to almost nothing at all, but the trip was epoch-
making, for the hour that Ruth turned the gray tranquility of her
eyes upon Larry, he was a changed man. In his heart he found
that he had been unconsciously harboring an abstract image of the
girl for whom he was seeking — how else could he account for the
sudden realization that at last she was found ? She was the com-
ing true of dreams long dreamed, and Larry was fairly breath-
less with the wonder of it all.
It was all settled before he went back. They were married
in September, standing in a grove of the pines they both loved, and
with the autumn sunshine sifting through the boughs to set its seal
of benediction on the two heads bowed in a flood of wonder and
incredible gratitude.
Then came the haste to get everything ready to catch the train
at the little station and start off for the new place they were to call
home.
"Larry, what fun to eat at these darling little white tables!
Don't you love the cool clink of the ice when the car rocks a little
and sways the dishes to one side?"
"You're a sweet thing, Ruth. Everything is fun to you, isn't
it?"
"No, Larry; some things are much more than fun. This trip
is. It's glorious, heart-crushing, unbelievable."
And the evenings, looking out at the passing landscape as it
grew more and more shadowy in the deepening dusk, with here
and there a light shining out from a little cabin, were almost un-
bearably sweet.
"Think you'll be able to stand it 'way off from your people,
in a little house like that one?" Larry would whisper.
"Stand it, Larry? I only wonder how I've stood it this long
anywhere else."
"Ruth, I want to make you happy. No, I can't do that, for
you are so happy already; but please God, I'll keep you happy,
dear."
Tears from the depths of a new-found spring of joy welled
up in her voice. "Oh, Larry," was all she really said, but Larry
heard much more.
There could be volumes written about the home-coming, and
getting settled in a little house o' dreams; but all such unim-
portant details must be left out to make room for Goldie McGee.
Goldie was so called according to that unfathomable rule of
boys which decrees that a nickname shall imply something which
the nicknamed is not. Goldie McGee was as ungold as can well
be imagined, with his black, part-defying hair cut square above
642 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
heavy black eyebrows, which in turn were above eyes too dark to
be expressive. Swarthy skin, a very husky voice, and perpetually
dirty hands all combined to produce the effect of unqualified dark-
ness, which inevitably resulted in the name of Goldie.
If there was anything golden about the boy, it was his smile,
about which there hovered a suggestion of spirituality almost in-
congruous with the rest of him. And it was his smile that won
Ruth.
She saw him first one day in late October, when the Indian
summer sun had lured her out of doors to putter around, as she
called it. The immaculate little cabin was in spotless order, and
as near heaven as an earthly habitation can be — without flowers.
The lateness of the season had precluded the raising of anything
outside, but Ruth's passionate love of growing things had sent her
in search of something she might transplant into boxes, to give the
finishing touch of hominess to the place. Her quest had been suc-
cessful— ferns and moss and vines had all been discovered, and
left where they were until such time as a window box would be
ready to receive them.
A long, narrow box from the store gave perfect satisfaction
as to size and shape, and, with an ease born of long experience,
she set to work to cover the outside with bark, thus transforming a
once plain box into a rustic fernery. It was a touch of home, for
play-hours all Ruth's life had been closely associated with chairs
and little cupboards covered in just such a fashion.
This particular autumn day was so lovely that it fairly hurt
her who, sensitive always to the beauty -of nature, was now, lov-
ing and loved, unusually responsive to it. The wooded hills, ris-
ing in sharp relief against the glow of the sky, pressed on her soul
with a sudden ache. She felt that she could endure nothing more
perfect — somewhere in the back of her head she was going over
and over some lines she had read once — "Let fall no burning leaf ;
dear Lord, let no bird call. Let fall no burning leaf ; dear Lord,
let no bird call." No, that was not quite right. There was no
"dear Lord" in the poem, but it didn't matter. She wanted a
"dear Lord" in it anyway.
Her wealth of vitality was expressing itself by means of
vicious choppings and hammerings as she prepared the strips of
bark for their destined places on the fernery. The violence of the
exercise had brought a flush to her cheeks and a glow to her eyes.
The thrill of activity shot through her whole being, and with red
lower lip caught between rows of even white teeth she looked like
the spirit of the autumntide.
And thus, Goldie McGee, coming over to borrow the wrench,
came upon Ruth. Involuntarily he stopped short to stare. Then
"If you ain't a peach. You sure are. If you ain't a winner," he
EVERGREEN 643
exclaimed; and the earnestness of his tribute made up for any
possible lapse in grammar.
Ruth's first reaction was one of complete astonishment, fol-
lowed so quickly by an appreciation of the boy's spontaneity that
she beamed an unmistakable welcome, and held out her hand.
"You must be Goldie McGee. Larry has told me about you.
Won't you come in?"
He accepted her invitation readily, with none of the adoles-
cent awkwardness she feared might follow such an outburst. Goldie
had seen a new kind of woman-person ; one who could hammer
things, and from the way she was biting her lip, the boy knew
that the hammering was counting for something. He said so.
"You don't act like most girls when you hammer. Ma can't
hit anything when she tries, and neither can Sis, and they get
awful mad cause I laugh. Wjiat you makin' ?"
"A fern box, so I can have things that grow in the house all
winter. It seems to me that spring is nearer if there is greenery
in the window. Don't you think so?"
"I dunno. Never tried it. But I believe I could nail some
bark onto that there box."
"You can, I'm sure. There is a piece all cut to fit. Go
ahead."
Goldie went ahead, and nailed on piece after piece of the
rough covering, finding in the occupation a stimulation quite new
to his experience. Funny how it made him feel. No use being
mean, and knocking good things to pieces when it was just as
much fun to fasten bits of wood together that weren't any good,
and make something decent out of them.
"Wish I'd thought of this long ago. Ma would too, I bet.
She hates me to be whittlin' around everywhere, but I can't seem
to help doin' it, somehow." Ruth felt a pang of yearning toward
Goldie. In his mobile face she read a little of the satisfaction he
was finding in this simple outlet for energy which he had been led
to regard as destructive. The making of things! The joy of it!
The thrill of it ! She loved the boy already.
Then, after awhile, "Goldie, let's go inside ; shall we ? We
don't need to finish the box today, you know, and I've a whole jar
of spice and raisin cookies in the house, just aching to be eaten by
a boy of your size."
"Cookies?"
"Yes, I should say cookies. Great big ones. Larry is a per-
fect baby over them, so I always have far too many for just the
two of us."
An hour later there were not too many cookies for anyone.
Goldie had done his best, which, in that particular respect, was
very good.
644 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
''Will you have just one more, Goldie?" Ruth asked him as he
was about to depart.
"I could chew one, maybe, but I sure couldn't swallow it, Mrs.
_Miss—"
"Miss Ruth is my name, Goldie," she helped him out.
"Sounds kinda like you look. Now I gotta go."
"Will you come again tomorrow? I need lots of help with
my fern box."
"Sure will. G'bye, Miss Ruth."
Goldie forgot the wrench he had come for.
When he came the next day his exuberance had moderated,
but as he got well into the work at hand it partially returned.
"Miss Ruth, what d'ye know about it — Ma wasn't a bit struck
on havin' me come over here. She said the craziest things, that I
didn't get at all."
"I'm sorry, Goldie. Why didn't she want you to come?"
"Dunno. She and Sis looked at each other, and said some-
thin' about the kind of a girl who'd take another girl's fella away
from her, or somethin' like that."
"Did she mean me, Goldie ? Did I take another girl's fellow ?
I didn't know it, if I did."
"How could you know it when you didn't do it ? Larry wasn't
never Sis's fella. She was just hopin' he would be, was all. He
used to come over to supper once in awhile, and then play check-
ers with me or Dad ; and Sis kinda thought he was there to see
her, but he wasn't, 'nd Ma crocheted a bedspread for Sis's box
that took her about a year, and it made her sore when Sis didn't
need it. See?"
"But, Goldie, if your mother really doesn't want you to come
over here, perhaps you hadn't better come. I don't want her to — "
"Naw, she just sputtered .a bit, cause that's her way. She's
darn glad to have me cuttin' on your back porch instead of her
kitchen floor."
So the matter rested there. Ruth could not bring herself to
send the boy away, for into the interesting occupation he had dis-
covered, he put an intensity that fairly frightened her. No won-
der he had been regarded by neighbors as something of a terror.
Poor kid, with nothing given him as an outlet for the surplus
steam. He was the best boy in the world.
At length the fern box was finished, and the two, now quite
inseparable outside of school hours, took a tramp into the woods
for the greenery. It was a brisk day in early November, with a
purplish haze casting a mysterious veil over everything, and the
tang of the autumn woods permeating every fibre of them with
its crispness. It was a day of heart-wrenching loveliness, and
Goldie's response to it all was touching. The birds, the river, the
clouds in their billowy whiteness, all seemed to speak to him with
EVERGREEN 645
voices he understood best, and not once did he speak to his com-
panion, or she to him ; and yet that trip was to both, a cementing
of their friendship.
Within a day or two after that, the job was done, and Goldie
appeared to be so lost without it that Ruth hastened to think up
something else.
"Christmas will be here soon, Goldie. How would you like
to make a window box for your mother, and surprise her ?"
"Think she'd like it? She thought it was kinda nutty to be
tinkerin' so long on yours."
"Oh, I'm sure she would like it, Goldie. Presents we make
for people' are always far nicer than any other kind. And per-
haps she doesn't know how lovely a thing it is to have something
green in the house when everything outside is icebound. Why,
Goldie, to watch the new little fern tendrils unroll, and know that
you yourself have watered and cared for them, gives a joy I can't
put into words."
Goldie caught her spirit.
"Kinda nice to know you were keepin' the little rascals from
freezin' to death, too."
"That's exactly what I mean, Goldie. It is a very pleasant
thing to know you have helped some helpless thing. Try to re-
member that always, will you ?"
"Yeh."
They set to work on the second box, and the pleasant con-
geniality of the hours spent with the boy was to Ruth beautiful.
She loved his blunt, untactful way of speaking out the thing that
was in his mind. Often some observation of his amazed her with
its maturity of viewpoint ; and she knew, with the humility that
comes with such a realization, that she listened to the thoughts of
a soul that was far, far older than the youthful little body harbor-
ing it. Manliness was cropping out, unformed, and scarcely un-
derstood, but it was an absorbing study.
The work on the box went forward at about the same rate of
speed as the cookies went inward. Ruth devoted three mornings
each week to the preparation of the afternoon refreshments ; for
whereas Larry's cookie longings were easily appeased by a weekly
cookie-bake, Goldie was not so temperate. As a measure of gastric
precaution, Ruth took to using less sugar and spice, but it lessened
the consumption not a whit. Sometimes talkative, and sometimes
thoughtfully silent, Goldie's hands were always busy and his jaws
kept pace.
"Wish Mom knew how to make these cookies, and would do
it." he said once. "I told- her I bet you'd teach her, but she
acted as though she never heard a word I said. Not that it mat-
ters much, 'cause I eat so many over here that I couldn't get away
with another if our whole house was full of 'em."
646 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Ruth smiled at him; and he smiled back. They were good
friends, these two.
Three days before Christmas the box was done, and a thing of
loveliness it was. Instead of the broad slabs of bark, they had cov-
ered this box with small, evenly matched twigs from the pine
boughs, and a little design had been worked out on each side. Ex-
hilarated with the success he had achieved, Goldie had been fired
further, and had worked out a Christmas greeting on a board a
foot square, and adorned with somewhat crooked letters whittled
from sticks and put together to form the hearty, if uneven mes-
sage, "Merry Xmas, to Mom, from Goldie."
His delight knew no bounds. It was great, this making things
for people, when they hadn't even asked you if you would. He
could hardly wait for Christmas, to see what Mom would think
about it all.
It was too late for ferns ; they had been frozen for over a
month. But Ruth had decided to spare half of hers to make the
gift complete. That was to be her Christmas surprise for Goldie.
But she had reckoned without the boy.
The morning before Christmas, he came over all bundled up
in his warmest coat and mitts. He was jubilant over something.
"Miss Ruth, I've had the best idear. It happened sometime
in the night, I guess, for I found it in my head when ;I woke up."
"Fine, Goldie. Hurry and tell me what it is. From the way
you look, it must be something perfectly scrumptious. "
"It's that I've thought of a way to get plants for the box for
Mom's Christmas gift. Its the evergreens upon the south Gallo-
way Mountain. They never freeze, and they'd be just as pretty as
ferns, wouldn't they? Green, and everything."
"What a perfectly lovely plan, Goldie. How did you ever
come to think out anything so great ? I call it downright inspira-
tion." Ruth's enthusiasm was not feigned, and the lad glowed
under her commendation.
"Guess she'd like it better, all right, if it had some plants in
it, wouldn't she ?"
"Will you be gone long, Goldie?"
"No, it's not so far. I'll easy get up and back before dark."
"Here, take a pocketful of cookies along with you. Take
every pocket you have full, and I will have some nice hot soup
ready for you when you get back."
In a moment the boy was gone, and in her mind Ruth tried to
follow him in his pilgrimage. There was something about the
thought of him, away upon the white, lonely mountainside that
caught her by the throat. He was such a game little chap. She
hoped he managed his trip nicely, and wasn't disappointed in his
search.
EVERGREEN 647
Larry came in from the mills about three for his lunch, and
found an almost tearful wife.
" What's the matter, Honey?" He was all solicitude.
"Oh, nothing, Larry, only of course it is the first Christmas
away from home, and I think I must be just a teeny bit homesick."
"Where's Goldie? I've sorta been depending on him to keep
you company these busy days."
"Maybe that is one thing I'm worried about. He is away up-
on the South Galloway Mountain after evergreens, and it seems
so cold and lonesome to think of him alone up there. After he gets
back we'll be so busy getting his gift for his mother ready that I'll
be all fine again."
"That's good, Ruth, for I'll be pretty late at the mill tonight.
The paymaster went home for the holidays, vand I have to stay and
pay off the men."
"How late will you be, Larry? Not too late to fill our stock-
ings, I hope."
"Fill our stockings ! I never filled stockings in my life. What
makes you think I'll know how the thing is done?"
"Don't you know, Larry Roberts, that when a man asks a girl
to marry him, he virtually promises to fill stockings every Christ-
mas from then on?"
"Still a bit of a kid, aren't you, Ruthie ? Well, you can count
on me. Hang up the very longest hosiery you own, and I'll
surprise you."
Ruth's thoughts kept going back to Goldie.
"Have we ever been upon the mountain where Goldie is,
Larry? Perhaps I wouldn't feel quite so worried about him if
I knew just what he was doing."
"We haven't been as far as the evergreen, but we went along
the trail on that very first hike we took after coming here. Re-
member?"
"Do I? Could I ever forget? I'm so glad you told me, for
now I can picture the boy on his quest. And come home as soon
as you can, won't you, Santa Claus ?"
"You bet I will," and with a quick kiss Larry was gone.
The short afternoon was gone, and the chill of the mountain
evening had settled down before it seemed possible. The sound of
steps on the back porch brought Ruth's heart into her throat, from
relief. She hadn't realized how concerned she had been until the
moment when the concern was ended.
When she opened the door, she faced Goldie's mother.
"Well, Mrs. McGee, I'm so glad to see you. Come in."
The warmth in the girl's voice gradually faded before the re-
lentless unfriendliness of the other.
"Where's Goldie McGee?"
648 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
"I think he'll be back here any instant. He told you where
he was going, didn't he?"
"He told me he was going up on the mountain on an errand.
A great one you are, sendin' a kid off on a wild goose chase ,the
day before Christmas. I've got forty chores for him to do."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. McGee. Truly I am. It was thoughtless of
us, but he was so anxious to — "
"Well, it don't matter. I thought this was a good chance,
anyhow, to come over and speak my mind to you. About Goldie,
of course. I'm good and sick of the way he spends his time over
here — never home to chop his wood, never hungry at mealtimes
because he's stuffed full of your sickening cookies — not satisfied
with anything me or Kit does for him, because he thinks you can
do it better."
"But Mrs. McGee, I haven't known I was making him dis-
contented. I haven't purposely — "
"No, I guess not. But you might have known, if you'd taken
the trouble to think. Anybody could get a kid away from his
mother if she went at it the way you have."
"You are tired tonight, Mrs. McGee. I'm sorry that Goldie
went away today and left you so much to do. If I have done any-
thing to hurt you, I beg your pardon, and I'll be more careful in
the future. I have been lonely, and Goldie was friendly to me —
a stranger. The boy needed something to keep him busy, and I
have tried to help him. There has been no thought of anything
disloyal to you."
Mrs. McGee was unconvinced.
"Don't you think I have enough work at home to keep him
busy — me with no other boy to help? But you get him. over here
and let him whittle everything to pieces, so's he'll feel that home
ain't home to him no longer. And now its come to your sendin'
him goose-chasm' after heaven knows what nonsense for you,
and its dark as a pocket, and him mebbe lost on that Galloway
slope. Might stay there and freeze to death for a Christmas gift
to me. How'd you like that?"
Ruth's throat felt dry, and there was a tingling back of her
eyelids. The thought of danger had never occurred to her. Goldie
was such a little Gypsy that he knew every step of the trails for
miles around — but what if he had lost his way? What if he were
hurt ?
Larry would be very late, he had said. The flashlight was
bright — she would go in search.
Slipping into the next room without a word, she put on her
warmest coat, gloves, and stout overshoes. Passing back through
the kitchen, she secured the searchlight from the drawer, and with
only a brief "I'll try to find Goldie for you," she was out in the
crisp chill of the winter night. The big sled Larry used for haul-
EVERGREEN 649
ing fire-logs was against the porch, and this she dragged along be-
hind her. In her heart was a little quiet prayer. "Please don't let
sorrow come to us this Christmas Eve. Please, please lead me to
Goldie."
All along the way she tried to imagine how she would feel as
she came back. If only she found the burden she sought. And if
only it were not too limp and white and still a burden.
As she walked rapidly down the road, she heard her name
called. Mrs. McGee getting panic-stricken, no doubt. Anyway,
there was no time to stop. Moments might be too precious.
A short way up the slope Ruth had to moderate her speed.
The incline was steep, and as the moon passed behind a dense
cloud-bank, she realized how dark and uncharted was the way, and
began to wonder at her folly in attempting a solitary search in the
blackness of the night. If only some sign might be given her. If
only a single ray of hope might gleam more brightly within her
heart.
Just then the clouds drifted apart, and from out their midst
shone one bright, bright star, and to the frightened girl it might
have been that glorious star that shone so fair another Christmas
Eve, in Bethlehem.
Courageously she renewed her climb, flashing the light to
right and left of the path and calling at intervals, "Goldie ! Yoo-
hoo ! Goldie !" And after about an hour which had seemed endless
to her, when hope was waning, and the star had hidden itself in
the clouds again, she heard the faint reply, "Yoo-hoo !"
With joy pounding through her being, and forgetting the
weariness and despair, she sped onward, calling once or twice, but
saving her strength for the further physical effort which lay ahead.
She came upon the boy suddenly, lying in the snow. One foot
was caught in a gnarled root and his arms were full to overflowing
of evergreen. Ruth dropped to her knees with an ecstatic little sob
of relief and gratitude.
"Goldie, old boy, are you hurt? Are you frozen? Oh, I'm
so glad, so glad to have found you."
"Hello. No, I don't believe I'm froze, but it'd be pretty chilly
by mornin' I reckon."
"Have you been lying here long, Goldie ?"
"Dunno just how long. Got my foot caught in something,
and couldn't git around to git it loose, somehow."
Untangling him from the binding root was a matter of only
a few moments. It was hard to tell how seriously his foot was
injured, though the swelling was ugly enough to indicate some-
thing amiss. Ruth arranged the sled-rope in such a way as to
make a pair of reins by which she could guide the sled from be-
hind, and managed to get Goldie settled in a fairly comfortable
position, with the evergreen held tight. As they began the diffi-
650 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
cult descent, • Goldie was heard to murmur happily, "If you ain't
a peach ! You sure are a peach."
Getting down was a slow and very difficult process. The hill
was steeper even than it had seemed in the climbing, and the dead
weight of the boy carried the sled forward too fast, so that the
strain on the girl was terrific. The blood pounded in her temples
until it seemed that they would burst, and the ropes cut into her
hands and burned with increasing pain.
How long the trail ! How much more of it could she endure ?
The way stretched on ahead, down and down, without the lights of
the town even discernible. Goldie, weary and happy was fitfully
sleeping, jerking out of his delicious drowsiness whenever an
especially sharp bump was negotiated, then drifting back into a
doze again.
It began to snow, softly and soothingly, for a white Christmas.
Ruth was only half conscious of the fact, for now a numbness had
begun to creep over her, and a dullness into her brain. She felt as
though she were a machine, going on and on, knowing that before
long a cog would slip, and the whole engine stop.
But no cog slipped, even though the hammering in every vein
grew louder, and the throbbing pain more throbbing. It was al-
most unbearable, but through it all was the half-memory of an-
other Christmas journey, when a woman, no doubt in pain, had
made a long, hard trip, and had not faltered. Mary, whose little
lad, born that night, had given the whole world all that it knew
of love and service. Mary had endured. Ruth, too, could endure.
And thus thinking hazily, almost past the awareness of her physi-
cal anguish, she tugged away at the ropes, and guided the sled on
down the Galloway hill, safe into the flat east of the home road.
It was over soon. Larry, having come in and found where
she had gone, had already started up the road. Meeting the trav-
elers, he picked Ruth up and carried her the rest of the way, with
the rope caught over his arm to drag the sled and Goldie along
behind.
The kitchen door of the little home stood open, warmth and
light streaming out a glad welcome. Mrs. McGee, her face stream-
ing with tears, was standing back with pride warring with con-
trition for supremacy on her face. The sight of Ruth, white-faced
and exhausted, melted the rancor and envy she had nourished, and
in a flood of relief and shame, she dropped down beside the couch
on which Larry had laid his wife, and burst into a confused babble.
"Miss Ruth, can you ever forgive me, dearie? Can you ever
forget what a horrible old woman said to you? To think you'd
risk your own life to go out after my boy, and him gone to get me
a present. I found the blessed message he whittled for me — and
me sendin' you out with the bitter words and feelin' I did."
EVERGREEN . 651
Ruth's answer was a wan smile, but one of complete forgive-
ness and understanding.
Goldie, looking in amazement from one to the other, could
scarcely comprehend what was going on. Something had hap-
pened. Something wonderful. His mother was looking at Miss
Ruth as though she .liked her, and Miss Ruth was as glad looking
as though she had already opened her Christmas mail.
And right there in the middle of the room was standing the
plant box for his mother — and she was seeing it before Christmas.
"Aw shucks, Mom, this was supposed to surprise you tomor-
row. That's what I went up on the mountain for — to get the ever-
green. How'd you happen to come over here on Christmas Eve
anyhow, and spoil the surprise?"
Goldie McGee's mother turned on him a new look — and her
face was suffused with a light he had never seen there before.
"Why, Son, I came over fer two or three things, I s'pose.
First I want to ask Miss Ruth if she'll accept a crocheted bed-
spread fer a Christmas gift; and then besides, I want to git the
recipe fer the cookies you like so well."
Goldie felt an electric shock go through him. Something had
happened, sure enough, to show him that his mother did care about
him after all. Words struggled for utterance, and then came forth
incoherently.
"Why, Mom, I didn't know you could be so pretty. If you
ain't a peach! You sure are. And if I ain't glad I got you the
evergreen ! I sure am !"
And the bells in the little town began to chime twelve, usher-
ing in the beginning of Christmas Day.
Memory
By Vesta Pierce Crawford
Thin-lined as a silver thread
Are the winding roads of Nazareth.
Misty as clouds hung out at sea
Are the barren hills of Galilee.
But Mary, I know, cannot forget
The manger place at Bethlehem,
Trie Christ on Olivet !
Semi-Annual Conference of the
Relief Society
By Mrs. Julia A. F. Lund, General Secretary
The semi-annual conference of the Relief Society was held
on October 3, 1929, in Salt Lake City, Utah. There were two
sessions — a general officers' meeting in the Auditorium of the
Bishop's Building at 10 a. m., and a general session for the pub-
lic in the Assembly Hall at 2 p. m.
The attendance at the general session was notable — ten of the
missions and more than seventy stakes had representation. With
the exception of Mrs. Lalene H. Hart, who is on a mission with
her husband in Canada, and Mrs. Jeannette A. Hyde, who is act-
ing as Collector of Customs in Honolulu, Hawaii, all General
Board members were in attendance.
President Louise Y. Robison presided at both sessions. Mrs.
Lizzie Thomas Edward, general chorister, was in charge of the
music, which was especially attractive. In the morning, the solo
by Mrs. Edward herself, accompanied by Professor Beesley, and
in the afternoon session the congregational and the choir numbers
with the choice instrumental trio by the Evans Sisters, were all
artistic and inspirational. Ushers were provided by four of the
city stakes — Ensign, Liberty, Grant and Granite.
Officers' Meeting
MRS. JULIA A. F. LUND
General Secretary and Treasurer
Before calling the roll of the stakes this morning, I take this
opportunity of expressing my appreciation to the various stakes
and missions for the prompt and helpful responses to our letter
asking for suggestions relative to the record books for the stakes,
the wards and the missions. Accept our thanks for the response
which has been most general. We assure you that, just as far as
it is possible, we have taken into account your suggestions. The
books, now in course of preparation, will be ready for distribu-
tion in time for the beginning of the year's work. We sincerely
appreciate your very hearty co-operation.
PRESIDENT LOUISE Y. ROBISON
On this beautiful morning I am thankful to see so many at
this conference, and I greet you all with love and blessing. It is
CONFERENCE OF THE RELIEF SOCIETY 653
encouraging to know that many who cannot be here are praying,
with love in their hearts, for our success.
We enjoy hearing from our presidents. We keep in touch
with their work, and appreciate the presence of sisters from far-
away stakes and missions.
W|e have an unusual number of changes to report — probably
never before so many changes as this year. With sorrow we re-
port the death of one of our faithful, fine presidents, Sister Lily
Belle Gledhill of the Sevier stake. A marvelous president, she was
full of love, charity, and steadfastness, faithful all her life, having
served the Relief Society for many years. After continued ill
health, she passed away during the summer.
The other presidents, too, have given faithful and fine service.
Having carried the burden so long, they were willing to pass it on
to someone else. The names of these splendid sisters we would
like to present in token of our esteem for the work they have done.
Organizations and Reorganisations
Date
June, 1929
Sept., 1929
April, 1929
May, 1929
May, 1929
June, 1929
June, 1929
July, 1929
Aug., 1929
Aug., 1929
Aug., 1929
Sept., 1929
Sept., 1929
Sept., 1929
Sept., 1929
Nov., 1928
June, 1929
June, 1929
June, 1929
Stake
Moroni
(organized)
Sharon
(organized)
Emery
San Juan
Weber
Summit
Sevier
Hyrum
Released
Mrs. Louisa Oveson
Mrs. Lucinda A. Redd
Mrs. Marianne
Browning
Mrs. Mary P. Jordan
Mrs. Lily B. Gledhill
(deceased)
Mrs. Susannah Nielsen
No. Davis Miss Emily Brough
San Fran. Mrs. Eva B. Merrill
So. Sevier Mrs. Ada Anderson
Cottonwood Mrs. Vera P. Wahlquist
Wasatch Mrs. Mima M. Broad-
bent
Boise Mrs. Florence E. Lewis
Shelley Mrs. Cora M.
Christensen
East Central
States
Mission
Eastern
States
Mission
NorthcentralMrs
States
Mission
Tahitian Mrs
Mission
Appointed President
Mrs. Anna Blackham
Mrs. Eva Giles
Gillespie
Mrs. Margaret Peterson
Mrs. Hattie R. Barton
Mrs. Katherine G.
Wright
Mrs. Myrtle Richens
Mrs. Estella P. Poulsen
Mrs. Laura L.
Christensen
Mrs. Elizabeth H.
Layton
Mrs. Sarah H. Carrutn
Mrs. Annetta Christensen
Mrs. Emily M. Carlisle
Mrs. Nellie C. DeGraff
Mrs. Mary C. Martineau
Mrs. Bessie Kelley
Mrs. Fanny S. Smith
Miss Olita Melville Mrs. Alice D. Moyle
Harriet H. Allred Mrs. Phoebe M. Welling
Vera T. Burton
Mrs. Marguerite S.
Burbridge
654 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
This summer we have suffered the loss of a beautiful woman,
Sister Emily S. Richards, a former member of the General Board.
To Brother Richards we feel to express the sympathy of the
whole Relief Society. Many of you older sisters will remember
Sister Richards when she visited your stakes, and will recall how
kind and faithful she has been. As she always attended confer-
ence, we miss her here this morning.
There are a few things we should like to explain. You know
that at our October conference we try not to take up any new
business, but just comment upon rulings already made. In early
summer we sent a letter to the stakes concerning the 50c temple
fund. We have asked that every Relief Society woman in the
Church either do one day's work a year in the temple, or pay the
equivalent, 50c a year, so that one woman can be redeemed by
each member — a beautiful work which I am sure the Church has
been very happy to have done. In the Relief Society we have over
60,000 women doing regular work, and possibly 30,000 others do-
ing extra temple work, so that the women's work is far in advance
of the men's. For the time being, we ask the sisters to try to get
the brethren interested, either to do their work or to make con-
tributions so that it can be done.
Pooling the Wheat Interest: The General Board felt that by
pooling the interest received from the wheat fund, more could be
accomplished. In many stakes this plan has worked admirably.
Wherever any bishops have not shared our viewpoint, but have en-
couraged the sisters to keep the interest in the wards, the stake
presidents have been disturbed or discouraged because of this ap-
parent lack of co-operation. The ruling has been modified to the
effect that the wheat interest shall be used only for health purposes,
and it is hoped that, in stakes where the funds are not pooled, none
of our ward presidents will use a dollar of the fund without the
approval of the stake president. Certain ward presidents write
that they have no need of wheat interest for health purposes, and
they desire to use it in building meeting houses or amusement halls.
It is so difficult to imagine such a condition that we wish these
ward sisters would confer with the stake officers. In stakes sparsely
populated, it is difficult to pool funds without a great amount of
work. Where wards are scattered, or where stake presidents have
no definite plan for health work, our advice is that the fund be re-
tained in the wards and expended under the advice of stake officers.
Requests that we change our day of meeting from Tuesday
afternoon have been numerous, but we feel that we should only
lose by changing the day. So, unless it is with the request of the
Priesthood presidency (and then kindly take it up with us) we ad-
vise that our meeting time remain Tuesday afternoon.
In the missions the situation is different. I recall that in the
East, the women in one district could meet just as well on Tues-
CONFERENCE OF THE RELIEF SOCIETY 655
day afternoon because they were mostly the wives or mothers of
students; while just a short distance away the membership was
made up mostly of women who were working in factories and
shops, and they could not attend in the afternoon.
On program for Work and Business meetings, we have a com-
mittee from our General Board — Sisters Amy W. Evans and
Lotta Paul Baxter — who will communicate with you. If we can
find out which departments have been a success in your stake, we
shall pass the plan on to another stake that is in need of help.
This summer, in the Benson stake especially, we have had a
beautiful expression of love for children. Sister Lyman and her
helpers have arranged for sixty-four underprivileged children to
be entertained there. We are grateful also to city stake Relief
Societies that made it possible for these children to go. One local
sister, Mrs. Mary P. Carlson, has made a valuable contribution
each year. She sends her check to help pay for these children to
go on trips. Other children have been sent out — two to Box Elder
stake, one to Timpanogos, and one to Preston. I cannot think of
anything more inspiring. When these children come home with
gifts for mother, they have jellies and jams and other good things.
Fourteen of our children have been at the tubercular camp where
I had the opportunity of seeing them.
We have great joy in store for you, since our dear Sister
Williams is to give you a word of greeting. I shall be glad if you
will stand for a minute to show your appreciation.
PRESIDENT CLARISSA S. WILLIAMS
My dear — I hope I may say — fellow- workers, even though I
have not been working very much, except with brain and heart.
During the year that I have been away from you, you have been
almost constantly in my thoughts. I feared that I could not con-
trol my emotions as I looked around and saw so many of those
whom I knew so well and worked with so long; but I know that
they feel, as I do, that it was a good time for someone else to take
up the joys of Relief Society work.
Next to your families, the work that you do in the Relief
Society is the greatest joy that you have. With deep interest I
have listened to the roll call, and to the report of President Robi-
son. If I might make a suggestion, it is that you continue your
missionary work of converting the brethren and the sisters to the
thought that the wheat fund interest should be used solely for
health work. I feel to lay this on you as a solemn mission. I believe
that it carries on the sacred thought that our fore-mothers had
when they instituted the gathering of the wheat, thus making it
possible for this vast sum of money to be distributed to the wards
and missions.
It seems to me that in heaven they are looking, I will not say
down, but around us, to know what we are doing and what our
656 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
ideas and our objects are. Wiill they not rejoice that you have
grasped the spirit they had in gathering these funds? Will you
not assume it as a solemn mission to educate first the brethren and
then the sisters? because there are few of our sisters not educated
to this thought. Then it will be easier for you in your wards and
in your stakes to see a little boy or a girl who needs a pair of spec-
tacles; or one who should have his teeth filled; or another who
needs an artificial limb ; or a child who is tubercular and needs the
assistance that science can give him.
I desire to say again how much I love you, how sincerely I
appreciate the work you are doing ; and you that do not know me
or that I do not know, I love just the same. If you are united and
seek the spirit of the Lord you will succeed, and the Relief Societv
work will prosper. Think from what it has grown in all the years
that are past, and look forward to what it may become in the fu-
ture! Is this not a vision worth seeing?
I pray that joy and happiness may reign in your homes, and
that you may have pleasure in all the duties you have to perform.
MRS. VERA T. BURTON
Former President, Tahitian Mission Relief Societies
There are few here that know just where the Tahitian Mis-
sion is. Many times I have been asked, Where is the Tahitian
Mission? It takes in the whole group of the Society Islands, and
is 2,000 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands, or just twice as far
from here. You board the ship at San Francisco, then for ten days
travel on the sea without seeing land.
The first sight of land is the small island of Tahiti, and it
looks very small, though it is ninety miles around and rises about
7,000 feet straight out of the water. The inhabitants are dotted
along the sea shore. It is a beautiful place — it is like a flower gar-
den. Papeete, the city, means a basket of water, so named because
from the top of the 7,000 foot cliff is a wonderful waterfall, foam-
ing down into the valley as if it were falling into a basket. The
coloring is beautiful ; the skies are the bluest I have ever seen, as
are also the waters ; and I have seen many waters.
For three years in the Tahitian Mission there was just one
white woman belonging to the Latter-day Saints and one white
child, so that you can imagine how, at times, my feelings blended
in with the azure skies and the blue ocean. But then, as we look
back, we think of just the bright things, and Tahiti is really a
beautiful place.
Except in the small branch at Tahiti, I have not had much
experience in the Relief Society, because we had to travel in small
schooners covering from three to seven hundred miles. One trip
I took is outstanding in my missionary experience. Boarding a
CONFERENCE OF THE RELIEF SOCIETY 657
small schooner about 8 o'clock one Monday morning, we landed
in Takaroa three and a half days later. Schooners are generally
driven by the wind, but this one had a motor on it.
Takaroa is a small coral island — you can hardly imagine how
small. If you would just take off your wedding ring and plant it
in Salt Lake, you can imagine how small it would seem as you
look out and see the grand palms rising out of the water. The
beautiful church house there stands out above the cocoanut palms
— an inspiring sight.
When we arrived, one of the sisters shook us by the hand, say-
ing, "Live in our house as long as you are here." A beautiful
little wooden bungalow it was, covered with flowers, the most
beautiful roses, the soil for which she had carried from Papeete.
Can you imagine anything more beautiful than this little house
where we dwelt for five weeks, waiting for a ship to return to
Papeete ?
I was the second white mission president's wife to visit the
islands since our mission has been in the South Seas, and my little
boy was the first white child of a missionary to go there, so you
can imagine the joy and excitement among the people at our
coming.
In Tahiti they are doing Relief Society work just as we are
trying to do it here. They have their funds for the poor ; they
take care of the dead ; they wash the clothing, do the cooking, take
care of the missionaries. They raise funds for the Relief Society
by climbing the cocoanut trees for the nuts. These they crack
open, take out the meat, then dry it and sell it to the traders. They
have their quilting bees, making wonderful colored quilts. The
beautifully blended colors are marvelous to us, their materials be-
ing poor, yet beautiful and effective.
While we were there they were so happy that almost daily they
feasted and banqueted us. The native people are the happiest you
ever meet. They worry about nothing, being happy all the time,
no matter what comes their way. It would be wonderful if we
could have just one little bit of this in our make-up. In Tahiti
the work conforms to the plan of lessons ; but in the islands prac-
tically all Relief Society work is left to the elders, who do very
well in teaching the native sisters.
Once a month we have a regular work day. Three Tuesdays
in the month are devoted to lesson work and other things pertain-
ing to their families and the care of their children. They have
their socials, and it is wonderful how beautiful they can make a
social with their flowers.
These dear sisters down there are devoted and sincere. If
they had taken tea or coffee, they would go before the congrega-
tion of the church and ask to be forgiven and to be admitted back
into the work.
658 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
MRS. IDA S. PETERSON
Former President, Danish Mission Relief Societies
It is truly a pleasure to give a report of our little mission away
over in Denmark. Most of the people there have to work for a
living, and we have our Relief Society meetings in the evenings.
We do not stop during the summer, but hold meetings the year
round. This work is recreation to our people there. We have a
sort of moving congregation; for as soon as they are able, they
emigrate. To those who remain, we teach the fundamentals. They
delight to hear about the gospel — the really big thing in the mis-
sion, since other things come afterwards. The true Relief So-
ciety spirit is with the Saints in the European Mission. The love
of the gospel is great in their hearts, and, of course, that includes
everything that is beautiful and good. The spirit of the work is
wonderful. These people sacrifice everything. Our ward teach-
ing in these cities is almost perfect. In each of our branches we
have from 90% to 100% of the homes visited every month. There
are seven fully organized branches. Copenhagen is a large and
beautiful city. To meet the sisters requires that the visiting teach-
ers ride street cars, buses, or walk ; but they enjoy teaching.
Denmark is a very beautiful country, and the Saints in Den-
mark love the gospel ; thus the mission work is carried on there just
as well as in the German or French missions. We keep in close
touch with the missionaries, and all work together for the one
great cause. We ha^e enjoyed the Relief Society Magazine.
I am happy to be back amongst you, and I wish to thank you
for this opportundity of reporting.
MISS OLITA MELVILLE
Former President, Eastern States Mission Relief Societies
I have been engaged in Relief Society work for the past two
years only. The first year I was a member of the Boston Relief
Society, and during the last year presided over the mission Relief
Society. During that short period I have learned that it is an
opportunity for every woman of the Church to be counted a mem-
ber of the Relief Society. My experience in this work has im-
pressed upon me more than ever the truth of the saying that it is
more blessed to give than to receive.
Last November there were 27 Relief Societies in the Eastern
States Mission. During the year we had the pleasure of organ-
izing new ones at Syracuse, Oceanside and Palmyra ; also in White
Sulphur Springs and New Martinsville, West Virginia. The New
York Relief Society was divided into three, adding two more to*
our total, which brought it up to 35, with a membership of approxi-
mately 500.
Relief Society work in the Eastern States Mission, unlike that
at home, has many different types of Societies. Some are com-
CONFERENCE OF TFIE RELIEF SOCIETY 659
posed entirely of university women, who have a good understand-
ing of the work, with splendid lessons. Others, composed of sis-
ters who are converts from foreign countries, labor under great
difficulty because of their handicap with the language; yet they
have the spirit of their work at heart, and they are doing wonder-
fully well. In some of our remote districts the women walk miles
to attend, and many of them never miss a meeting during the year.
With some this is their only source of education, and they are
learning to become better mothers and better wives. Wihen people
see what the sisters are doing, they desire to become affiliated with
such an organization and become members. Then they study the
lessons. As soon as they learn that the gospel has been restored,
they are baptized. There is a divine plan in all things ; I believe
that we are sent to the place where we are most needed and are
given means and abilities with which to uplift ourselves. During
the last two months of my mission I had the opportunity of travel-
ing with Sister Moyle, my successor. I learned to love her, and
am happy that one so capable is to take the work over.
When we think of the first organization, and the small num-
ber at that time, then look over this great gathering of women
here today, we feel the words of the Prophet at the first meeting
have been fulfilled : "And I now turn the key to you in the name of
God, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence
shall flow down from this time. This is the beginning of better
days to this Society.,,
I love this work because it comes nearest to the hearts of
those in trouble, and not only gives relief, but also saves souls.
MRS. HARRIET H. ALLRED
Former President, Northcentral States Mission Relief Societies
I rejoice this morning that I have the privilege of giving a
brief outline of the Northcentral States Mission Relief Society.
When I was called to undertake this task I scarcely knew where
to begin ; but with the help of the Lord, and of my husband, I was
able, in some degree, to do this work. It has been a great joy —
it has been my recreation ; I have never considered it work. It
entailed much activity, and the work of the mission president is a
little different from that of the stake president, because there is
more territory to cover.
Our mision comprises part of what used to be the Canadian
mission, that is, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the Dakotas and
Minneapolis, a tiny bit of Wisconsin, a small piece of Ontario, and
the very slight eastern edge of Alberta. We had only one Relief
Society in Canada — in Winnipeg, where we have a very fine
branch. In Montana we have four branches — Billings, Belfry,
Harlem, and Chinook. In the Montana districts we have women
who had been in Relief Society work at home; so I feel that we
were more than blessed in having such experience available. We
660 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
started with five organizations ; when I left in July, there were
nine and one district.
We have other branches — one in St. Paul, one in Minneapolis,
one in Grand Forks, South Dakota. We have one teachers' dis-
trict, by way of experiment, in Bergland, Ontario, which is forty
or fifty miles from Winnipeg. There are a few sisters living in
Bergland who wished to do Relief Society work. Their num-
bers were too few for an organization, but they were eager and
anxious for the privilege. We made a plan for them, which seemed
to be working well when I left in July, whereby they function un-
der the wing of the Winnipeg branch. We call them the Berg-
land District of the Winnipeg Relief Society. If this plan works
out all right, probably there may be other districts organized.
I met many wonderful women — many real Latter-day Saint
women, who have the gospel and the welfare of each other at heart.
We appreciated the assistance of the missionaries in the Relief
Society work. They came and helped us with our meetings. Oc-
casionally we had to ask one to be an officer. We prefer to use
the local talent, but where that was not available, the lady mis-
sionaries were called to assume the responsibility. But the elders
had to help with the organizing, and very often they would say :
"Sister Allred, if we had known that we would have this phase of
the work to do in our missionary labors, we would certainly have
paid more attention to Relief Society work before we came here.
We did not realize the importance of it, and the wonderful things
that may be learned, and the help it may become to a community."
The Minneapolis branch was the largest of the nine, and had
about 45 members; St. Paul had 41.
The lesson work, as a rule, worked out beautifully. Some of
the sisters have said that the lessons just seemed to fit in, being
just what they needed every time they came to study them.
General Session
PRESIDENT LOUISE Y. ROBISON
We are especially happy to see so many of our dear sisters
here on this day which had so beautiful a beginning. A call from
President Grant said that he could not be with us, but asked me
to give his love and blessings, with greetings from the First
Presidency. This morning our own President Clarissa S. Wil-
liams extended her love and greetings to all of us.
Sister Vilate R. Ivins, from the Hawaiian Islands, was in-
structed by the sisters there to bring greetings from them, not to
the Relief Society of Scandinavia, or of the Southern or the
Western States, but to the Relief Society of the entire Church.
MRS. VILATE R. IVINS
If I were standing before a group of Hawaiian people, I
would say "Aloha", and they would answer back, "Aloha." The
CONFERENCE OF THE RELIEF SOCIETY 661
love this word conveys is greater than that of any other word you
can think of. The Hawaiian women are big in body and in heart ;
full of "aloha" for the work of the Lord. At the head of our
Relief Society in Hawaii is Sister Oliva S. Waddoups, a wonder-
fully fine woman, in charge also of the women's work in the
Hawaiian Temple. Her two counselors are fine Hawaiian women ;
there may be some in the congregation who know Sister Fernan-
dez— a life-long friend to the missionaries and still strong in the
faith.
As well as bringing the "Aloha"' from the Hawaiian people^
I bring it also from the Samoan, Japanese, and Tahitian people.
In our meetings is the dearest old Japanese sister — one of the
first converts to the Church in Japan. Faithful in the work, she
first went into the temple not understanding a word of English;
yet she understood everything that was said to her.
Our work in Hawaii is similar to that reported by mission
presidents today. We follow the Relief Society Magazine > — the
theology lessons, the testimony days, the work and business meet-
ings. Our women make beautiful quilts, take care of the sick,
bury the dead. Among the lady missionaries is a nurse, Sister
Gedge, from Salt Lake City. Our enrollment is large; the mis-
sion includes five islands. At the present time they are having
their conference in Hawaii, sometimes spoken of as the metropo-
lis of the world, because of the different nationalities there.
PRESIDING BISHOP SYLVESTER Q. CANNON
This gathering is evidence to me of the interest that is mani-
fest in Relief Society work.
I was impressed in listening to the talks that were made this
afternoon. I do not believe you really know how powerful your
influence is ; and if you do begin to appreciate how important it
is, I am sure you will realize the care that should be exercised in
all that you do in your official capacity. Outside people say,
"If we could only get the Relief Society to help us, we should be
sure of success." They have even said that the Relief Society
is able to put over elections. We do not admit that to be true ;
but it shows that many people think that the Relief Society has
political as well as moral influence.
The Relief Society has various fiields of activity from an edu-
cational, a moral and a spiritual standpoint. One of the import-
ant duties is the administration of relief. We have suggested to
the bishoprics of all of the wards that they ought to place that
work where it can be effectively carried out. The bishop can
turn over to the Relief Society the investigation of charity cases,
and can be assured of proper investigation ; and recommenda-
tions for relief, if carried out by the Relief Society, will remedy
the condition. When I speak of relief I do not mean financial
662 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
relief only, but other service that will enable every family and
•every part of a family to become self-sustaining and independent.
PRESIDENT LOUISE Y. ROBISON
A General Board member came back from one of the stakes
where she had been for several days ; some of the sisters had taken
her to the train. When she came home she said, "I have resolved,
after seeing what those wonderful ward presidents do, that I will
do better work." You do stimulate the General Board. This
General Board representative said that what the ward president
had done in the ward she had visited was almost unbelieveajble ;
and I think that is true of every one of our ward presidents. I
pray that you will have health and strength, that you will have
influence in your homes, that the Lord will bless you with your
people, that you will know their needs, that no child will be neg-
lected and that no person who is in your care will suffer.
I thank you for coming out, I thank these busy men who
have come to help us today. I thank Brother Tracy Y. Cannon
who came and helped us with our music, and Sister Edward,
and all who have helped to make our meeting a success.
The proceedings of the conference will be continued in subsequent issues
of the Magazine
Children's Books
By Lais Vernon Hales
"No college English, no finishing school course in art and
literature, will give men and women what they might have had
if books had been as much their friends in childhood as the
children next door."
To select books for children it is absolutely necessary to
have a clear conception of their interests and activities. Tfre
child will miss a natural companionship with books if we select
the books that ought to be read instead of the books that will be
read.
Choose Books of Action
The little child lives in the immediate present; he wishes to
hear about things that belong to his environment — what he sees,
hears, or handles. He likes best to hear his own experiences re-
produced exactly as they have happened to him. The most rep-
resentative contribution to the experience story is Here and Now
Story Book (E. P. Dutton).
A little later the child wants to hear stories about other chil-
dren who do the things he likes to do. Here is the place fori
stories of dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals. He will appre-
ciate immensely Helen Bannerman's The Story of Little Black
Sambo (Stokes) because Sambo had just those experiences which
he longs to have. He is not yet ready for fairy tales or any-*'
CHILDREN'S BOOKS 663
thing remote, fantastic, or far away. After full experience with
the actual he will enter more freely and joyously the world of the
imagination.
When Romace Begins
Later, during the third and fourth years in school, the child
reaches out for the vivid, the romantic, the thrilling. His in-
terest in people calls for hero books. They may be fairly long,
for the child has discovered the charm of the book "that lasts a
long time/' Do not give abridgments to children; they are un-
satisfactory, confusing, and unliterary in approach. One re-
calls Anne Carroll Moore's statement against abridgments and
adaptations — "A piece of literature is an organism and should
therefore be put before the scholar, no matter how young, with
its head on and standing on both its feet." Rather than give the
child abridgments, Miss Moore would have him learn "judicious
skipping," as by omitting the long descriptions in Scott and
Cooper. They are now ready for Robinson Crusoe (Scott,
Foresman and Company).
With adolescence, love for adventure becomes closely re-
lated to the quest for realization of youth's ideals ; and the liter-
ature chosen must voice dreams and visions. Now come the
stories of King Arthur, the Odyssey, the Song of Roland. We
may use some of the finer new things such as Cornelia Meigs'*
The New Moon (Macmillan) to excite curiosity and induce more
reading. Thus the new literature may be used as a stepping
stone to the classics.
Avoid "Series" Books
All early books for children should be told in strong motor
terms and should be simple stories of actual child experience.
This is the surest guide in selecting literature for the young child.
As to the "series ^habit," which is too easy and encourages
mental laziness and satisfaction with the obvious, we can do two
things. Give the child many kinds of vivid experiences in daily
life to develop his mental altertness and curiosity. This will
enable him to reject the colorless, commonplace experiences of
the "series books", and will surround him with desirable books
with which the poorer ones cannot compete. Once alive to the
delights afforded by good books that tell him things that he
wants to know, a child is well on the way toward developing val-
uable reading habits, which will endure for a lifetime and which
will fill with profit and pleasure the leisure time that is fraught
with possibilities for good or ill. There is no child who does not
care to read if the right books can be found.
Children Like Poetry
As the unwaning popularity of Mother Goose testifies, chil-
dren like genuine poetry. In poetry children prefer direct, col-
orful rhythms, lively actions, and rollicking humor. Poetry be-
664 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
longs to children. They warmly welcome the fine poetry of
Walter de la Mare. When parents and teachers have allowed
them to, they have cared for the matchless songs of childhood
in William Blake's Songs of Innocence (Minton, Balch & Co.).
During the tenth and eleventh years children demand ballad
poetry. Among the new things they are ready for John Nei-
hardt's The Song of Hugh Glass (Macmillan). Children also ap-
preciate much of our best lyric poetry, but they must be allowed
the utmost freedom in following individual preferences. The
poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson and Eugene Field should not
be given indiscriminately to the young children. Many of their
poems are appreciated later on.
They Like Men and Nature
Children are genuinely interested in biography if it conforms
to their natural predilections. Biography exerts a powerful in-
fluence, next only to the influence of a personal friend, and
should be given in' plentiful amount. Helen Nicolay's The Boy's
Life of Abraham Lincoln (Century) is good. Books of geogra-
phy and travel also are fascinating to children.
As to Nature stories — "no fairy tale, no story of adventure,
possesses greater power to command the interest of the child than
do true stories of insects, birds, plants, animals, stars, man, and
the earth itself, provided they are well presented through skill-
fully selected material." The Burgess Flower Book for Chil-
dren and the Burgess Animal Book for Children (Little, Brown
& Co.) are delightful mediums of introduction to the flower and
animal life about them.
Get Illustrated Books
The best illustrated books for children are good economy
as a rule, "since it is the best literature which has attracted to its
service the work of the best artists. One book of pleasing pro-
portions, with good paper, attractive print, wide margins, ar-
tistic binding, and beautifully conceived and executed illustra-
tions which fit a worth-while text, \t worth a dozen cheap editions
of the same text. Children need good and beautiful bindings.
You can give books to children but you cannot make them like
them. The book must do that. The picture books of Randolph
Caldecott are very good, especially his The House That Jack
Built, The Babees in the Wood, Sing a Song of Sixpence (Warne
& Co.).
The above material has been gleaned from A Handbook of
Children's Literature written by Emelyn E. Gardner of the Col-
lege of the City of Detroit and Eloise Ramsey of the Detroit
Teachers College. It was published recently and. is without
doubt one of the finest of its kind. It is sane, conservative, ex-
haustive. To the wide-awake teacher or mother it is indispens-
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
665
able. Besides the material touched upon above, there is in-
cluded a valuable course of study which enables any mother to
guide her children through an entire course, beginning in baby-
hood and ending well after adolescence. It ought to assist ma-
terially in answering the annual question "What books shall I
give my children for Christmas?"
Childhood Tuberculosis
By H. E. Kleinschmidt, M. D.
Few people know that children may have a disease of the
lung glands which is different from adult tuberculosis, but often
a forerunner of it. When discovered during childhood the pros-
pects are far brighter of maintaining health than when the child
has grown up, and the disease may have developed into the com-
monly known type of tuberculosis. Because of this, one of the
primary reasons for conducting the Christmas seal sale is to raise
money to promote the early discovery of those children who now
have within their bodies the seeds of grave future danger.
Usually the condition is unknown to the family. There are
no clear and unmistakable evidences of it apparent to the eye of the
physician at a cursory examination. Its detection requires special
skill and experience aided by the tuberculin test and the X-ray.
Certain warning signals indicate those children who should
be given the benefit of these tests. The child may show signs of
underweight and slight weakness ; his appetite may be poor ; he
may be somewhat pale ; he may tire easily and be lacking in pep.
But all these symptoms may be due to other causes — only the
tuberculin test and X-ray in the hands of a competent doctor can
ascertain the facts with certainty.
In the beginning this condition is not lung tuberculosis at all.
The breathing surface has not been invaded. In childhood the
disorder is usually confined to small glands about the size of beans,
which are located at the point where the windpipe divides into
two branches, one going to each lung. These glands serve as
filters. If the germs of tuberculosis get into the lung, the lung
glands tend to stop them from getting into the blood circulation,
but in doing so the glands may themselves become damaged. Ulti-
mately the injured portion of the -gland is replaced by a hard
gritty substance called calcium, which makes a distinct shadow on
the X-ray plate.
Children who live or have lived in homes with adults having
tuberculosis should be given these tests, as it is close contact with
666 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE*
the disease that is most dangerous. Undernourished children who
fail to respond to intelligent feeding and plenty of sleep should
also be examined. Perhaps the best thing is for all children to
have such a thorough examination, with X-ray and tuberculin test.
Lung gland tuberculosis can usually be prevented from de-
veloping into lung tuberculosis. By shielding children from re-
ceiving additional large doses of tubercle bacilli, active tuber-
culosis can usually be avoided. If there is another case of tuber-
culosis in the family and it is impossible for him or her to be in a
sanitarium, every precaution should be taken, such as never kiss-
ing the child, scalding and washing separately all dishes and eating
utensils and destroying the sputum, preferably by burning. The
patient most certainly must sleep alone.
The child with lung gland tuberculosis should be relieved of
all possible strain at home and in school. Strenuous exercise and
fatigue must be avoided. Defects, such as bad teeth and tonsils,
must be corrected and good daily health habits cultivated. Nourish-
ing food, sunshine and fresh air in abundance are essential. Ten
or more hours of sleep at night and rest periods of an hour or
more morning and afternoon are necessary. Just as rest is the
secret of successful treatment of tuberculosis, so also is it the most
important preventive of that disease. In fact, everything possible
should be done to build up the child's general health.
Preventoria established in some communities conduct special
supervised school work for children threatened with tuberculosis,
heart disease and other handicaps. These schools aim to help par-
ents carry out the health-building program outlined above. Such
all-year-round work as is here described is fostered by the Na-
tional Tuberculosis Association and its 1,400 affiliated organiza-
tions throughout the country. They are conducting their annual
Christmas seal sale from Thanksgiving Day through Christmas.
In Utah the Tuberculosis Association is combating the dis-
ease by teaching the importance of frequent health examinations,
and the necessity of keeping the children up to their normal weight.
The Christmas Seal Camp, in Big Cottonwood Canyon, which is
conducted for six weeks each summer, is one of the ways in which
this education is accomplished. Here children are not only prop-
erly fed and supervised but they learn health habits, which enable
them to continue the improvement in health which begins in Camp.
The second means of carrying on tuberculosis prevention is
the field nurse, who goes from county to county promoting health
examinations, clinics, teaching classes of mothers and, when there
is no county health service, making inspection of school children.
The third means used is the furnishing of health teaching ma-
terial to school teachers. This consists of posters, pamphlets and
plays. •
These activities are made possible through the sale of Christ-
mas seals.
jt/U^-^CC^
t
Guide Lessons for February
LESSON I
Theology and Testimony
(First Week in February)
BOOK OF MORMON
Lesson 5. The Good King Benjamin
This lesson, which includes the material between pages 150
and 181 of the Book of Mormon, falls naturally into three sections,
as is shown by the following brief outline :
Outline
I. Close of the Small Plates of Nephi.
1. The words of Enos.
(a) His "wrestle before God."
(b) Conditions during his time. *s**\
2. The words of Tarom.
(a) Who jarom was.
(b) Conditions in his day.
3. The words of Omni, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki.
II. The words of Mormon.
1. Who Mormon was.
2. When he lived.
3. His abridgment.
III. Beginning of the Larger Plates (Mosiah).
1. Conditions in 124 B. C.
2. King Benjamin.
(a) Type of man and king.
(b) His speech from the tower.
(1) On service.
(2) On duties of kingship.
(3) On Christ.
(4) On Charity.
3. Mosiah II.
(a) Character, Education.
(b) Delegation to Land of Nephi.
Notes
1. The Words of Mormon. It was said in a previous lesson
that one of the difficulties found in reading the Book of Mormon
lies in its structure. In the present lesson this difficulty comes
into clear view. For, at the conclusion of the Small Plates of
668 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Nephi (page 157), 200 B. C, we come all of a sudden upon "the
Words of Mormon/' a character who lived some four hundred
years after Christ.
We learned in our last lesson how this comes about.
The larger plates of Nephi, which were but one set out of
many during the history of the Nephites, were used to set down
the events year by year as they took place. But the small plates
of Nephi covered only the first four hundred years of Nephite
history, and were "more religious" than the larger plates. And
when Martin Harris lost the first part of the manuscript transla-
tion, Joseph made a translation of the small plates, instead of re-
translating the other account. Of course the "Words of Mor-
mon" form an introduction to what follows, or a link between
the two.
Notice the difference between the two translations, so far as
the form is concerned.
The translation of the small plates is in the first person, while
that of the work that follows — at least the abridgment part — is in
the third person. And this fact is in harmony with the assumption
that the Prophet made a translation of a real record, instead of
making up the work out of his head, as he is charged with having
done. If the third person had been used throughout the first 157
pages, which is not supposed to be an abridgment at all, then it
would have been a very serious objection to the Book of Mormon
claims to being the history of a real people, which would be very
hard to overcome, if not impossible. But as it is, it is a striking
evidence to the truth of its claims.
2. A Sidelight on Prophecy. One of the illuminating side-
lights on life and religion so often appearing in the Book of Mor-
mon comes in connection with this episode of the Small Plates.
A good many people find themselves puzzled over the appar-
ent casual connection between human agency and prophecy. If
an event is foreseen a dozen or a thousand years before it happens,
it is sometimes thought that the mere foreseeing of it makes it
come to pass by a sort of predestination. But that is not the case.
There is no relation whatever between the act and the foreseeing
of the act by the Lord.
The Lord, twenty-four hundred years before the revelation
of the Book of Mormon to the Prophet Joseph, foresaw that
Martin Harris would lose the manuscript, and, foreseeing that act
on the part of Martin, prepared for it. The act of Martin Harris
in losing the manuscript would have happened anyway whether or
not the Lord anticipated it and provided against it, for that was
the man's disposition and nature, as brought about by the play of
cause and effect. And the Lord did not see fit on this occasion to
interfere in the situation. But, knowing that a certain condition
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 669
would arise, he provided for it beforehand. The Lord did not
make Harris lose that manuscript.
3. Benjamin a Just Ruler. The account of King Benjamin
in the Book of Mormon is surely one of the high lights of the Ne-
phite Record as we have it. This covers the first six chapters of
Mormon's Abridgment.
A ruler is supposed to be a guide to the people in their strug-
gle towards the light. But how rarely has this been the case in the
history of mankind. As a rule, the kings and emperors have acted
on the assumption that the people were made for them instead of
them for the people. And that was particularly true before the
rise of the people to political power. It is too often true today,
also, when self-seeking politicians get into office.
But here, in Benjamin, we have a model king. His character
and acts cannot be duplicated in history. Alfred the Great in early
England comes the nearest to being like Benjamin of any we can
think of. And even if we look upon the Book of Mormon as a
work of fiction, conceived by Joseph Smith, as some critics would
have us believe, instead of a history of a real people, as the Saints
contend, it is assuredly a fine and energizing thing to have created
a character as noble and conscientious as King Benjamin.
He is as tender toward his subjects as a kindly father is of
his own children, and as solicitous about their welfare. Moreover,
he is a Christian — and that is saying a great deal, — for even Chris-
tians today do not always act like Christians. And the people re-
spond nobly to his appeal to their better selves.
His teachings are far in advance of his day, whether you con-
sider the Nephite nation or contemporary nations in Europe.
He works for a living instead of taxing the people to support
him in regal state. While he has punished, as king, any trans-
gression of the law, yet he has not attempted to be unjust, or to
enslave any of his subjects, as he might have done. On the con-
trary, he has taught them the principles of self-government and
helped them to put these into practice.
But most of all, he places himself on an equality with them,
puts himself on the same level with them. This is most extra-
ordinary in a king. He says, for instance, that he has the same
infirmities of body and mind as they have. Nor does he take to
himself any credit for being their king, for he was chosen king
and has been "suffered" by the Lord to be their ruler. This, too,
is extraordinary in a king.
And then look at his advanced views on service. Service is
the slogan of the twentieth century, not only in religion but in
business as well.. But here is a king who made that his ideal
twenty-one hundred years ago. Even if we make King Benjamin
the creation of Joseph Smith, still he is three-quarters of a cen-
tury ahead of his time. And the idea of service is elaborated upon
670 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
by this early ruler. "If I, whom you call your ruler," he says, "do
labor to serve you, then had not ye ought to labor to serve one
another ?" And then he adds that since he serves the people, they
should serve one another, and all serve God. ''When ye are in the
service of your fellow beings," he tells his people, "ye are only in
the service of God." Here is the true Christian ideal of life, which
the world has been nineteen hundred years trying to grasp, and
our comprehension of it at the end of this period is not nearly so
clear as that of this humble Nephite king.
Benjamin also had some fundamental ideas on charity. The
Nephites had the poor among them, it appears — as indeed what
nation has not ? Also they had among them persons who felt that
the poor were poor because they had brought upon themselves
their poverty, and who said this to justify themselves in not reliev-
ing the distress they saw around them. But the kindly Benjamin
told them plainly that in saying this they had "great cause to re-
pent" and that except they repented they would "perish forever"
and have "no interest in the kingdom of God." That was strong-
doctrine. The only legitimate motive for giving is love, the king
taught. "Love one another," he said, "and serve one another."
A wonderful king was Benjamin, and a wonderful man — a
true Christian.
Questions
1 . Explain how it is that we have the Small Plates of Nephi
instead of the regular abridgment of Mormon. Suppose we had
the lost manuscript abridgment, what difference would we ob-
serve ?
2. Tell the incident of Martin Harris' loss of the Book of
Mormon manuscript. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 20-28.)
3. Refute the idea that a person's acts are predestined to take
place. What is the difference between "predestination" and "fore-
ordination ?"
4. Who was Mormon? When did he live? How comes it
that his "Words" appear in our Book of Mormon 125 years be-
fore Christ ?
5. Describe the character of King Benjamin. Why is it re-
markable that we should have such a person before the Christian
Era ? How do you account for his character and teachings ?
6. Tell about Benjamin's ideas (a) on equality, (b) on serv-
ice, (c) on charity.
7. Are his ideas on charity as applicable today as they were
then? Why do you think so? What are our modern notions as
to why some people are poor and how they should be looked after?
What effect has indiscriminate giving (a) on the giver and (b) on
the receiver?
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 671
LESSON II
Work and Business
Teachers' Topic for February
(This topic to be given at the special teachers' meeting the
first week in February)
PATRIOTISM
/. Definition.
Patriotism is a love of country and a devotion to its welfare.—
Daniel Webster.
"I therefore believe it my duty to my country, to love it, to
support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect, its flag, and
to defend it against all enemies." — The Americans Creed by W .
T. Page.
II. Value of Patriotism.
A. Creates love of country.
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, who never to him-
self hath said, 'This is my own, my native land?' " — The Lay of
the Last Minstrel by Scott.
B. Encourages observance of law.
One of our solemn duties today is to stand by the Constitu-
tion and the flag of our country — to pledge a new allegiance to
both. We know that the American flag stands for liberty under
the law ; that liberty is protected and made safe by law ; and that
only through obedience to law can liberty exist. Peace and secur-
ity, which result from a good government, depend upon obedience
to good laws.
"Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth
the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land." —
Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 58, verse 21.
"And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting
that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges,
belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me ;
"Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of
my church, in befriending that law, which is the constitutional
law of the land." — Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 98, verses 5, 6.
C. Promotes Security of Life, Liberty, Property.
"Nowhere in the world is there a government of so much
liberty and equality,"— Lincoln.
672 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
''Our country asks us to live for her, and so to live and to act
that her government may be pure, her officers honest, and every
corner of her territory a place fit to grow the best men and women
— thank God, I am an American." — Daniel Webster.
D. Develops respect for the flag, and thus
Aids in creating the proper national spirit.
"Through all the ages some flag has been an emblem to in-
spire men's hearts with confidence and hope and reverence."
Do we understand the proper observance and use of the flag,
and know its history?
7/7. Cultivation of Patriotism.
A. By knowledge of history and laws.
B. By reading biographies of statesmen and pioneers.
C. By learning songs, stories, and traditions.
D. By observance of national holidays.
E. By cultivating peace-time patriotism.
"There is a necessity of remembering that carelessness and
lawlessness are apt to manifest themselves during protracted peace
times rather than during war. 'Eternal Vigilance is the price of
liberty.' " — Law Observance and Enforcement Bulletin.
"So its home again, and home again, America for me,
My heart is turning home again and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars."
— Henry Van Dyke.
The Names of Santa Claus
As Christmas draws near, the name of Santa Claus becomes vividly
present in all children's thoughts. It is often on the lips of their parents,
too, with this and that admonishment to be good ! Santa Claus is also
called St. Nicholas, and, sometimes, Kriss Kringle. It is interesting to find
out where he received these names.
St. Nicholas, according to Webster's New International Dictionary,
was a bishop of Myra, Asia Minor, about the year 300 A. D. "He is the
patron saint of Russia, and of seafaring men, thieves, virgins, and children."
From these multifarious duties, St. Nicholas seems to have selected one by
which to be best known. "As the bearer of presents to children on Christ-
mas Eve his name has been corrupted to Santa Claus," or, as it is occa-
sionally spelled Santa Klaus.
Kriss Kringle is a quite different name. It comes from the German
"Christkindl," meaning the Christ child, or a Christmas gift, a diminutive of
"Christkind."
GUIDE LESSONS EOR FEBRUARY 673
LESSON III
Literature
(Third Week in February)
THE LOST COMMANDER— FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
By Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews
Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews is the daughter of the Rt.
Rev. Jacob Shaw and Ann Louise Shipman. On December 31,
1884, she married William Shankland Andrews.
The first story by which she was widely known was "The
Perfect Tribute" which was published in 1906. Since that time
she has written a number of books and various articles for some
of the best magazines.
She is now living at Splitrock, Syracuse, New York.
"A great commander was lost to England when Florence
Nightingale was born a woman." — Sir Edward Cook.
Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews takes the above quotation
as a sort of thesis for her very readable life of Florence Night-
ingale, the mother of modern nursing. That idea is like the ground
cloth of a piece of tapestry behind the colorful patterns of the
twelve chapters of the volume which was published in 1929 by
Doubleday, Doran & Company, Garden City, New York.
On account of the fact that she has been a rather prolific writer
since about 1906, Mrs. Andrews will not be a stranger to most of
the Relief Society sisters. Her little story of Abraham Lincoln —
"The Perfect Tribute" — was one of the most popular short stories
of the first quarter of this century and has had a very wide circu-
lation.
Those who know her work will have some idea before read-
ing it what The Lost Commander is like, especially from the liter-
ary point of view. Mrs. Andrews in this as well as in many of
her other works, has a tendency to be over sentimental. But in
the main she restrains her story except in dramatic places where
she allows herself to drift dangerously near to what newspaper
men call "sob stuff." She has a facility of expression, however,
and an imagination which add charm to the story.
Mrs. Andrews begins the book with an imaginary incident in
the life of Florence Nightingale. She pictures the little girl ready
for a ride in the carriage with her very dignified and stylish mother
at Embly, Hampshire, England, where the Nightingales lived. The
nurse leaves the child for a moment while she goes away to attend
to something. In that moment a dirty, wounded cat comes along,
excites the pity of the little girl, who scoops her up in her arms,
much to the detriment of the immaculate clothes she is wearing.
The author introduces this imaginary episode to indicate that Miss
674 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Nightingale, though a child of wealth and ease, the daughter of
dignified English gentle folk, had from earliest childhood profound
interest in the wounded, the maimed, and the sick of all classes.
This bent in the girl's character is traced through her young
womanhood to the time when she took up nursing as a life's work.
On account of the author's propensity to mix imaginary in-
cidents with the facts, the reader is sometimes a bit bewildered and
is not sure just which is fact and which is fancy. This adds to the
literary interest of the book, no doubt, but detracts from its value
as biography.
Another disconcerting feature is the frank statement that the
author has set out to show that Florence Nightingale was in truth
a "lost commander." With that thought comes the suspicion that
the author has selected her facts, not to give a true and adequate
picture of her subject, but to prove that she really might have been
a great general had not fate made her a woman.
Mrs. Andrews is bitter in her denunciation of Strachey, the
English biographer, on the ground that he purposely selects un-
complimentary facts to present, thus painting an incorrect portrait.
She says, "Strachey is a very 'smart-Aleck' artist indeed, whose
trick is to make his sitters as ugly as possible, and yet preserve a
likeness." And again: "People ought to condemn the more
Strachey's dishonesty. If Strachey were dull, one could forgive
him — in fact, one would probably not read him. A clever criminal
deserves a deeper hell than a stupid one, not only because he does
more damage but because he is more aware of his damaging."
Of course the reader smiles over that statement, for Mrs.
Andrews might be accused of selecting only those features to paint
in that will show Florence a great commander, a fine figure every-
where. She may be merely looking at the other side of the shield.
She does admit, reluctantly, that in the Lady-in-Chief's last years
she was imperious, almost impossible, but she excuses her as deftly
as she can.
Despite its faults, the book is very much worth while in that
it does give an interesting picture in an interesting way of this
great leader of modern women, who gave her life to a great cause ;
a work out of which has radiated many movements that have been
important in the evolution of the world in the direction of better
health, better care of soldiers during both war and peace, better
care of all sick, in fact, and a clearer understanding of women.
According to Mrs. Andrews, she was the first woman ever to be
appointed to any important office in the British government.
Florence Nightingale was the daughter of Frances Smith and
William Shore, who later, on account of inherited property, took
the name of Nightingale. This high-minded, splendid young
couple went to the continent for their honeymoon, remaining sev-
eral years in Italy. While there, two daughters were born to them,
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 67S
Frances Parthenope and Florence, named after the cities of their
birth. The younger, Florence, was born in 1820.
Upon their return to England in 1821, the family lived at
Lea Hall and later at Lea Hurst, Hampshire, on the Derwent
River. In 1825 Embley Park was secured by Mr. Nightingale
and also became a home of the family.
The girls were well trained by Mrs. Nightingale in the art
of managing a household, and, according to the times, were given
a thorough education. Florence could speak several languages
fluently and was accomplished in other ways. Though these girls
had everything that position and wealth could afford, Florence
was restless, feeling that life without some high purpose was not
sufficient.
While yet a very young lady she went on a visit to Rome,
where she met Sidney Herbert and his charming wife, becoming
intimate with both and loving both dearly. This was a very im-
portant acquaintanceship for the reason that Sidney Herbert later
became Secretary of War and assisted Florence Nightingale in
carrying on her chosen work.
To indicate the bent of the girl's mind, it is interesting to
note that in 1850 she wrote in her diary: "I am thirty, the age at
which Christ began his mission. Now, no more childish things,
no more love, no more marriage. Now, Lord, let me think only
of Thy will."
Mrs. Andrews reviews briefly the history of nursing; she
shows that nursing in the modern sense was not known at that
time. Sisters of charity, it is true, had nursed the sick since early
Christian times, but in continental Europe and England the nurses
of Florence Nightingale's time were "drunken, immoral, and un-
trained."
In 1833 Pastor Theodor Fliedner, of Kaiserswerth, Germany,
founded a school for nurses. He had in mind, however, only
sisters of the Church. This school really got under way in 1836,
when Florence was sixteen years of age.
She heard of the Fliedner school in 1846 through a report
which was sent to her by Baron Bunson. Despite the entreaties
of her parents, especially her mother, she entered this school in
1851 and remained three months. She had found her work. "This
is life," she wrote. "Now I know what it is to love life."
In 1853 she went to visit the sisters of charity in Paris and
to study the whole nursing situation. Later she became superin-
tendent of one of the nursing homes in Harley Street, Paris, where
she received training that was of paramount importance.
In the year when she went to Paris came the Crimean War.
British soldiers, fighting hundreds of miles from home, were poorly
cared for when they fell sick or were wounded. A dispatch from
Constantinople said : "No sufficient preparations have been made
676 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
for the care of wounded, not sufficient surgeons, no dressers and
nurses. ... In Scutari it is found that the commonest appliances
of a workhouse sick ward are wanting, that men die through the
medical staff of the British Army forgetting that old rags are
necessary for the dressing of wounds,"
On October 14 and 15, 1854, Florence Nightingale and Sid-
ney Herbert exchanged letters regarding the matter, and in seven
days 38 nurses had been recruited to send to the front. On Octo-
ber 27 they sailed from France, arriving in Constantinople on
November 4. These women and their Lady-in-Chief found four
miles of cots six inches apart, each bearing its wounded soldier,
most of whom had not received the commonest kind of first aid.
These women literally rolled up their sleeves and went to work.
Mrs. Gaskell, the novelist, said of Florence Nightingale, "She
seemed as completely led by God as was Joan of Arc :" so whole-
heartedly did she enter into nursing and so indomitable was she in
securing what she wanted for the soldiers. Sidney Herbert said,
"Those thirty-eight nurses on the way to Scutari are truer suc-
cessors to the apostles shipwrecked at Melita than thirty-eight
cardinals."
Mrs. Andrews cleverly connects Tennyson's "Charge of the
Light Brigade" with this charge of the women upon the war suf-
ferers. Her comparison is made all the more effective by the fact
that the battle of Balaclava had just been fought when the nurses
arrived and many of the wounded of the famous "six hundred"
fell to their charge.
The treaty of peace was signed in Paris March 30, 1856; on
August 6, Florence Nightingale returned to England.
Funds had already been gathered for a nurse's home, but it
was not until 1859 that Florence Nightingale began the school.
She advertised for candidates, and on June 24, 1860, fifteen pro-
bationers were admitted. They became the first lay nurses in the
world's history and a new profession had been born. The first
class of 13 was graduated in 1861.
Nursing, Mrs. Andrews declares, is Florence Nightingale's
greatest and most lasting monument, although she was instru-
mental in opening the whole world to the entrance of women.
It was not until 1871 that Dr. Susan Dimock established the
first nursing school in America.
The closing years of Miss Nightingale's life — she never mar-
ried— though she suffered much from illness, were active ones.
She would not stop until many of the evils she had seen during
the war were wiped out. She was instrumental in having a Royal
Commission with four sub-commissions established. These Mrs.
Andrews calls Miss Nightingale's four chicks. They were :
1. A sub-commission to put barracks and hospitals in sani-
tary order.
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 677
2. A commission to organize a statistical department.
3. A sub-commission to institute an army medical school.
4. A sub-commission to reconstruct the army medical de-
partment and other big things.
From her bed she continued her work, directing many move-
ments during the troubles in India although she did not leave Eng-
land. She was also instrumental in starting a movement for rural
hygiene.
She wrote a few books, and many reports and papers. The
best known of these is "Notes on Nursing."
In 1907 King Edward offered her the Order of Merit. In
August, 1910, she closed her career at the advanced age of 90. She
was buried in Hampshire with her people, though before her death
she was offered the privilege of resting in Westminster Abbey.
She preferred to be with father and mother in the beautiful coun-
try where she had spent her childhood.
One closes the book feeling that it is good to have known,
even remotely, this woman who dedicated her life to a great cause,
and won immortality through her service to mankind.
Questions and Problems
1. What is the evidence that Mrs. Gaskell was right in her
statement regarding Miss Nightingale?
2. Read the "Charge of the Light Brigade."
3. Why might it be said to be a questionable practice for a
biographer to take a proposition to prove in the biography?
4. Has Mrs. Andrews, in a book like The Lost Commander,
any good right to criticize Strachey so severely for being dis-
honest ?
5. In what way did the work of Miss Nightingale differ
from the work of the Relief Society ?
6. Some one might describe a first-class modern hospital and
point out differences between it and earlier ones, or even home
nursing methods.
LESSON IV
Social Service
(Fourth Week in February)
THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK
Lesson 2. Poverty and Dependency
A. The Extent and Causes of Poverty
It is important to distinguish between poverty and destitu-
tion. Destitution is a state of absolute and utter want ; poverty
678 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
is merely a relative scarcity of the means of subsistence. Poverty,
therefore, is much more frequent than destitution.
Because communities do not keep accurate statistics and there
is no way of comparing one community with another, the amount
of destitution and poverty in any country at a given time is almost
impossible to determine. Political economists, at different times,
have estimated the number of people in a state of poverty. Their
estimates range all the way from one to ten per cent of the popula-
tion, with five per cent as the median. This would mean that at
any one time about five per cent of the entire population are re-
ceiving some sort of public or private assistance.
There is no common agreement, either, as to the specific causes
of poverty. The most reliable opinion on the subject holds that
poverty, like disease and crime, is a uniform consequent of many
different antecedents. That is to say, poverty is a symptom of
social disease, just as a high temperature is a symptom of physical
disease ; and many totally different factors can produce it.
Jamison B. Hurry, formerly Medical Officer at University
College, Reading, England, has called our attention to the "vi-
cious circle" characteristics of poverty :
"In the ordinary course of economic law, the reaction pro-
voked by a social disorder tends to arrest such disorder. For ex-
ample, idleness is checked by indigence, crime by social ostracism,
alcoholism by dyspepsia, insanitation by ill-health. By this nat-
ural process the social organism maintains itself in health. Where
a Vicious Circle is present, the ordinary sequence is modified. The
reactions which should be beneficent are maleficent and intensify
the disorder. Poverty, one of the most important of social evils,
is to some extent subject to the usual economic law, since it has
sequela which render it disagreeable and therefore to be avoided.
Unfortunately, however, there are other potent factors which ag-
gravate in lieu of arresting the primary disorder, and cause poverty
to become self -perpetuating. As Solomon pointed out many cen-
turies ago : 'The destruction of the poor is their poverty.' "
Typical examples of this "vicious circle" relationship are the
following :
Poverty — improper housing — ill health — unemployment — pov-
erty.
Poverty — improper food — malnutrition — low wages — poverty.
Poverty — ignorance — inefficiency — poverty.
Poverty — alcoholism — unemployment — poverty.
Poverty — improvidence — borrowing — poverty.
[n a word, we may say that the causes of poverty are any and
all circumstances that operate to deprive a person or a family of
the necessaries for subsistence and efficiency. Chief among these,
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 679
are ill health, low mentality, unemployment, indolence, limited edu-
cation, low wages, improvidence, physical and mental handicaps.
B. The Care of Dependent Adults
The oldest institution in English-speaking countries for the
care of the pauper is the almshouse, or, as it is sometimes called,
the "poor house" (in England it is still called the workhouse).
This institution became firmly established under Queen Elizabeth,
in the seventeenth century. Our Puritan and Pilgrim ancestors
continued the pattern in this country, with the result that every
American county either has an almshouse or makes an arrange-
ment with a neighboring county to care for its indigent old men
and old women.
Originally, the almshouse was a "catch-all" for indigents of
all sorts, — the insane, the unemployed, dependent children, the
crippled, the blind. One by one these latter groups have been taken
out of the almshouse, to be cared for in other ways, leaving only
the homeless, indigent adult. Almshouses have little to commend
them. They carry with them an unfortunate stigma which the in-
mates always resent. "Over the hill to the poor house" is a phrase
that suggests the nature of public opinion on the subject. The
food, the lack of stimulating occupation, and the isolation from
free society, are among the common objections to the place.
In order to avoid the stigma of the "poor" house and at the
same time to secure the advantages of congregate living, many re-
ligious groups — for example the Jews, the Lutherans, the Bap-
tists,— provide homes for the aged of their own denomination. The
stigma has been further removed from these institutions by requir-
ing inmates to pay a small amount per month or at the time of
admission, towards their upkeep. This plan of caring for help-
less, indigent, old people has much to commend it.
Institutional care for indigent adults becomes necessary only
when such persons lack savings, a private income, or children who
will care for them. In order to stem the tide of pauperism and to
enable the aged to live in self-respect outside of the "poor" house,
most modern states and nations have considered — and some have
adopted — the old-age pension. Kelso, in The Science of Public
Welfare, says:
"All the important nations of Europe have legislated upon the
subject of old age pensions. These with Australia, New Zealand
in the East, and Argentina in the South, together with Canada,
Alaska, and five of the United States, make up a grand total of
thirty-one jurisdictions recognizing some form of old-age pension.
Seven countries which have non-contributory pensions are mostly
English speaking. They comprise a total population approximat-
ing 70,000,000. Fifteen nations require some form of contribu-
tion by the pensioner. These have a population totaling some 240,-
000,000."
680 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Old-age pensions have not been popular in the United States.
Arizona, in 1914, passed the first pension act and abolished the
almshouse system. Unfortunately, the law was declared uncon-
stitutional. Since that time Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Penn-
sylvania, Wisconsin, Utah, and a few other states have adopted
old-age pension laws of one sort or another. At best, these laws
are inadequate because the pension is too small and the age limit —
usually sixty-five or seventy — is too high. As Kelso further says,
"While the public is willing to succor the helpless out of sym-
pathy as a private charity, they are not yet ready to pay out their
subsistence to the improvident and other of the fraternity of the
necessitous under some reasoned claim of right. It doesn't go
down with the individualistic American people. Meantime the
problem should be recognized for just what it is — the riddle of the
empty stomach. Experience of decades, yes centuries, with the
public poor shows beyond question that the only way to relieve
indigence adequately from the point of view of the dependent, and
safely from the point of view of society, is through friendly per-
sonal case- work, wielding a sympathy tempered always by justice."
C. Care of Dependent Families
Supplementing the almshouse — the system of "indoor" relief
— is the plan of money doles, supplies of food, clothing, coal, etc.,
called "outdoor" relief. Monies for this service are, of course,
secured through taxation. This system is objectionable because it
permits of so much abuse, graft, and patronage. Yet it is far more
economical when well administered than the almshouse system
used exclusively. If careful case-work investigation is made of
applications for relief, "outdoor" relief has much to commend it.
The backbone of most private philanthropic work is what is
called family welfare work, such as is administered by the Charity
Organization Societies, Family Service Societies, Relief Societies,
United Charities, etc., throughout the United States. Family wel-
fare work is becoming less and less a matter of furnishing relief
in money or in "kind" and more and more a matter of rehabilita-
tion. It is in connection with this type of social work that the
art of case-work is seen at its best.
Private philanthropic societies are not restricted by law as to
the kind and amount of help that might be given to their clients.
In many of these societies an adequate budget is allowed for the
families under care. In some societies, notably the Jewish, this
service has even taken the form of setting up a tradesman or an
artisan in a small business.
D. The Care of Dependent Children
Up until the beginning of this century the orphanage was the
main institution for the care of dependent children in Anglo- Amer-
GUIDE LESSONS FOR FEBRUARY 6Si
ican communities. In 1909, however, President Roosevelt called
the famous White House Conference to consider the general prob-
lems of child welfare in America. At this time the concensus of
opinion was decidedly against the orphanage as a place for depend-
ent and delinquent children.
The general principles concerning which there was substantial
agreement among social workers at that time are the following :
1. Preservation of home ties wherever possible.
•2. The paramount importance of preventive work.
3. The superiority of the foster home as a substitute for the
natural home.
4. The adoption of the cottage plan for institutions.
5. The incorporation of child-caring agencies.
6. State inspection of the work of child-caring agencies.
7. Education in institutions as part of the public educational
system.
8. The keeping of adequate records.
9. Physical care.
10. Co-operation among child-caring agencies.
The beginning of the twentieth century saw also the intro-
duction of the juvenile court movement in the United States — a
movement that has spread to every state in the Union and to most
civilized countries throughout the world. The purpose and basic
principle of the juvenile court is well stated in "A Standard Juven-
ile Court Law" published by the National Probation Association,
1928.
"The purpose of this act is to secure for each child under its
jurisdiction such care, guidance, and control, preferably in his own
home, as will conduce to the child's welfare and the best interests
of the state ; and when such child is removed from his own family,
to secure for him custody, care, and discipline as nearly as possible
equivalent to that which should have 'been given by his parents."
While, ideally, children should be supplied with as normal a
home life as possible, there is, nevertheless, much to be said in
favor of certain types of institutions for dependent children, espe-
cially when these institutions are administered by the state. Take,
for example, the so-called "state school system" as it is admin-
istered in Minnesota and Michigan. Following a careful exam-
ination, children are committed to the state school by the juvenile
court. There the child is detained only until approved private
boarding-homes can be found. The child is made a public ward,
the State Board of Control becoming his legal guardian. On an
average children remain only a few months. They receive good
medical care and appropriate training in the common branches,
manual training, and domestic science.
Another type of public child-saving activity is the boarding
and placing-out system, as it is conducted in Massachusetts, New
682 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE
Jersey, Indiana. The Massachusetts Department of Public Wel-
fare has extensive powers and duties in the care and custody of
delinquent and dependent children. The system for dependent
children is essentially one of supervision in approved boarding-
homes.
Another type of social work for dependent children is some-
times called the "mother's pension." This plan of allowing a widow
with dependent children a sum of money each month in order that
she might remain at home to look after her children, began in Il-
linois and Missouri in 1911. At the present time forty-two states
and the District of Columbia have enacted mother's pension laws,
or "aid to mothers" laws. A unique feature of this system of pub-
lic care for dependent children is the fact that in about half the
states the responsibility for administering these laws has been
placed upon the local juvenile courts. This has had the advan-
tage, in many places, at least, of minimizing the abuses that often
accompany any system of outdoor relief.
Questions for the Further Stimulation of Thought
1. How much destitution is there in your community?
2. How would you find out how much poverty exists in your
community ?
3. Is there an almshouse in your county? If so, what is the
age, sex, nationality, religion, physical and mental health of its
population? Is the food, clothing, recreation, medical attention,
adequate? Have you ever visited this institution? If not, why
not?
4. If there is no almshouse in your county, what arrange-
ments do your County Commissioners make for the care of indi-
gent adults ?
5. Are there any private homes for the aged in your com-
munity ? If so, under what auspices are they managed? What are
the requirements for admission?
6. What are the arguments for and against old-age pensions ?
Is there an old-age pension in your state ? What are its provisions ■
7. What are the essential characteristics of case-work with
dependent families? Do dependent families in your community
get this sort of service?
8. What are the arguments for and against the orphanage?
Why did the American Legion, following a careful study of the
situation, decide recently to use the system of child-placing instead
of institutions for the care of war veterans' dependents ?
9. Is juvenile court work in your community administered
according to the White House standards of 1909?
10. How much is spent on mother's pensions in your county?
What is the average amount allotted to each widow? Are careful
investigations made before pensions are granted?
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Complete Printing and Binding Service
OFFICE <w-^«rw RULING
AND ^^^ AND
BANK \^ BOOK
FORMS ▼ BINDING
SPECIAL ATTENTION TO MAIL ORDERS
We offer special prices on binding Church
Magazines. These volumes should be pre-
served as valuable additions to your library. —
Write us about them.
The Deseret News Press
29 Richards Street Salt Lake City
When Buying Mention Relief Society Magazine
Relief Society Women
Attention '
After sixteen years of service to
the people, the BURIAL CLOTHES
DEPARTMENT of the Relief So-
ciety takes this opportunity of ex-
pressing appreciation to you for
your co-operation and patronage,
which has contributed to the growth
and stability of the Department.
The Presidency of the Church,
realizing the needs of the people,
authorized the establishment of the
Department in 1913. Since that
time it has endeavored to serve the
people.
The Burial Clothes Department
desires to announce that it has on
hand a large and complete stock of
temple and burial clothing in a
variety of materials. There are
suits for men and women, and
burial clothing for children, includ-
ing tailored suits for small boys.
We give prompt and careful at-
tention to mail, telephone and tele-
graph orders, and prepay postage
and express charges.
When Buying Mention Relief Society Mmgozine
30
IF
BELIEF S OC I ET Y
L ARK UTAH
ARE YOUR RELIEF SOCIETY
WORKERS WELCOME?
Reflect Seriously — Just what their visits would mean
to your family should the husband and father be taken
from you or be totally disabled?
Life Insurance protection relieves the Relief Society of their
greatest task — The Financing of the Widow's Family.
Don't Shirk Meeting This Issue
FACE to FACE
Put your house in order hy procuring sufficient Life Insurance
to carry on in case you are unable to carry on.
Beneficial Insurance For The Entire Family
(Age 1 Day to 65 Years)
Insurance is one of the highest type investments if you live or
if you die or are disabled.
The Big Home Company
Gives You Participating Insurance
At Low Non Participating Rates
All Beneficial Policyholders share in the net earnings
Beneficial Life Insurance Go.
Home Office. Vermont Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Heber J. Grant, Pres. E. T. Ralphs, Gen. Mgr.
Any Beneficial Representative Will Give You Full Details
Qi
When Buying Mention Relief Society Magazine
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